


Chaos' Frontier

by lostamongstars



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Chaos fic, F/M, Post-Blood of Olympus, partial AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-29
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-03 23:07:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 35,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5310575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostamongstars/pseuds/lostamongstars
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"people who can't throw something important away can never hope to change anything." </p><p>    in which percy jackson stands not only at the mercy of primordials, but at the beginning of the end. \\ post-boo + chaos / still choppy;needs re-editing; please bear with me here</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> s u m m a r y
> 
> It all started with a kidnapping.
> 
> As bad as it sounds, the whole kidnapping business was the only way to open Percy Jackson's eyes to the un-Misted view of the world he was in: where Gaea won, and her vicious spawn roamed the earth and rewarded it with destruction. And here was Chaos, who ordered the kidnapping, offering Percy his power to defeat the goddess. Percy knew that cooperating with the Primordial was the only way to end this vicious cycle of war. However, the greatest risk for hosting the gods was the host's immediate death...
> 
> But Percy Jackson disregards every suffering he's about to take, because this might be his only chance before the earth casts its final judgment to the world.
> 
> // So a few extra notes from moi before you begin:
> 
> • this is a fic where you can't expect /me/ to write /you/ a happy ending :)
> 
> • rated M for graphic violence and gore stuff. I won't recommend this for people with hearts made of paper.
> 
> • Chaos, or actually, Khaos because there's no C in Greek, will be described as a male person. Not that I'm male-washing gender neutral gods but... I don't want to use 'it' in every single chapter that does not pertain to objects and other things that might need the holy usage of 'it'. It would confuse me.
> 
> • Also, Khaos will be spelled as Chaos because even Percy was using it in Greek Gods. I know that I should use the former word because it is correct but let me do my thing here. This is still my fanfic, got it?
> 
> • i do not kill characters. In fact, I truly feel bad when I kill them. A few characters who had been so close to me who just died from a scene makes me cry. The plot begs for them to be killed, however.
> 
> • Please. Leave. Feedback. You don't know how much I need reviews/coments/kudos/votes for every fanfic and novel that I post. I want to know the thoughts of my readers- good or bad.

BEING KIDNAPPED BY A GODDESS was one of the worst things ever to happen to Percy Jackson. But being kidnapped by a friend and his friend's apparently immortal girlfriend (who might still hate his guts, he added afterwards) was something else.

Percy was glad when he first saw them standing by his cabin a few hours ago, so alive and well against the pale light of dawn. Calypso looked stunning as always, but her eyes held a baleful expression. He'd hurt her; he shouldn't look at her like before, before he'd left the island of Ogygia. Leo threw golden magical ropes around him (Hephaestus-grade ones, he had mentioned). The ropes wrapped him in a vise grip, in a second he remembered how Minos had died, and the world shut down before his eyes.

When he came to, there was a change in the landscape. It was morning. And they were ten thousand feet in the air, riding Festus. He couldn't recognize the glittering city below. For all Percy knew, they were flying over Antarctica. His seat was warm and toasty, but that was his only perk. He was gagged so tight the sides of his mouth ached. His hands were tied, his feet attached to the sides of the bronze dragon by a few straps. The frigid winds bit him in the face and a lone snowflake fell on his forehead. That was the harshest wake up call to exist in his opinion. Below, the snow was everywhere, almost as if it didn't want to leave anytime soon.

And it was August- August, for Olympus' sake. This snowy landscape should've died a few months ago. It wasn't normal, per se, so the gods had to be behind it.

Of course they were; and he shouldn't be any more surprised, being a demigod for seven years. He'd lived up to their standards: killed monsters here and there, completed numerous and deadly quests (yeah, the deadly part, shouldn't forget that one), and defeated the two great meanies in Ancient Greece in the ancient times- Kronos and Gaea.

Couldn't they leave him alone for a few years? Some time enough for him to pass college, get a steady job, and be married to Annabeth?

Leo and Calypso dropped him like a sack of hot potatoes once they entered a suite through a large skylight, removed his gag, changed Festus into a very heavy suitcase, and bolted upstairs. How they managed not to slip on the icy steps that he'd seen briefly- heck, how did they even saw the steps in the first place- he would have to ask later. It was dark. Not a single light entered the windows, thanks to all the blinds and the thick black curtains. Even the skylight, which he was sure that was made of glass, was dark. He wished the bronze dragon-turned-suitcase next to him would help bring in some heat to his bones. He sighed. No such luck.

As for his location, he was at a hotel far north. That was the most the couple could tell. Quebec. Maybe it's near Alaska, he guessed, but Percy couldn't tell if his hunch was correct. After all, he was waging a war against a wave of frostbite creeping on his limbs and was busy keeping himself toasty and warm. And he was, unfortunately, tipping so near to the losing end.

Sea-green eyes peered into the darkness. There was nothing to see, nothing to feel, nothing to hear. How was Camp Half-Blood now? Were they searching for a person named Perseus Jackson at this moment?

Fire blazed overhead. Percy turned, eyes twitching and adjusting from the sudden light. Fire blazed from Leo's palm, dancing wildly in the dark. He saw that impish grin again. Maybe he really was Leo, although the guy had just kidnapped him.

"Hey," he said, his voice slightly echoing in the grand room full of ice, "think you can get here on your own? A god wants to talk to you."

Percy got up, shivering. "A jacket would be nice, you know."

"You got me here; no need for a jacket." Leo took slow steps down the flight of icy stairs. Percy wanted to think that it was just the icy steps that made him go slow on footing, that he was just being careful. But the ice turned slightly into slush wherever he stepped.

"Can you make it faster? Please?" He could barely keep his teeth chattering. In no time he would turn into a demigod popsicle for a god to chew on. "What kind of god wanted to talk in this place, anyway? I would've settled for New Rome."

"He couldn't get far from this place," Leo replied. "Met him once on a quest for Hera- oh, you know. That one with the lovebirds who happen to be my best friends."

Lovebirds. Best friends. "Jason and Piper."

Leo smiled, but there wasn't any warmth in it. It was only at this time that Percy- as surprising as it may seem- pondered if there was anything that he held against the two. They were the trio who went to save Hera before, and as they succeeded Jason and Piper became... well, a couple. Fast forward to the trip to Rome Rome, Leo had gotten the notion from Nemesis that he was the seventh wheel, that he would never belong.

As if Leo had noticed his spiteful tone, he shrugged and beckoned Percy to take steps. "Come on, Percy. I'm telling you, you don't want to die in here."

As if Percy had other choices. And yes, he shouldn't die just yet. Not until he knew who was behind this. Percy shivered as they ascended. The steps weren't as slippery as he thought but he still had to take every precaution. He certainly didn't want to go down the hard way. White puffs of his own ragged breathing clouded before his mouth. At the ghostly flames dancing like a Roman candle, Percy had no trouble (not that he wanted to) imagining faces stuck in agony painted on the walls. He wondered if his face was next.

"Which god made you do this?"

The flames flickered. Before them was a hallway covered in frost and snow, as if a blizzard had just walked in. For all Percy knew, maybe it happened for real. A few meters away was a blue frosty door awash in pale orange- Leo's light.

"You're going to know who they are when we pass that ice door," Leo breathed, focusing again on the way ahead.

"Leo."

"Percy." Leo's lips tightened to a straight line. Percy had just noticed the dark circles under Leo's eyes, as if he hadn't taken much sleep for days. "Please, just- just follow for the meantime. They won't kill you- they told me so."

"And I thought we were talking about a single god here."

"Two. But I made them promise not to hurt you, too. You're all they've got."

Percy decided not to press him some more questions. Taking that one bit on these gods who arranged this thing would be easier. They reached the doors. Before Leo could touch it the doors swung inward and a blast of cold, misty air blew head-on at them. Percy winced and shielded his face. He'd had enough of the cold winds and the frost all around him. Was the sun nonexistent in this place? But before he could start complaining, he stopped in his tracks, floored by what he was seeing. 

The northern lights were stationed at the ceiling, giving an ethereal green and blue glow on the icy room. The blue carpet had a fine layer of flurry, so as they walked bits of shattered snowflakes fluttered weakly around their feet. The northern lights made everything glow, and Percy felt himself pulled by the beauty of it. But as it stands, roses have thorns, too. Ice statues flanked both sides of the doors and the sides of the carpet winding up to the throne. Some reached the same height as his, wearing complete battle armor, posed as if facing an enemy, wielding a wide range of weapons that still looked deadly beneath the ice. Some even looked younger than he is. He averted his gaze from the statues.

A bearded man with white hair sat on the throne, talking to a man in dark clothing. They were dressed both in Greek chiton, sandals, and a bronze armor, as if they were about to go into war. A crown of laurels sat on their heads, covered in frost and flurry. They seemed to be in deep conversation. Leo cleared his throat. The sound, Percy assumed, carried up to the throne.

"He's here," Leo said. His voice wavered. Percy had two options: to believe that his voice shook because he was cold or because he was brimming with nervous energy. Much to his dismay, his instincts inclined to the latter. "Do the thing you've promised me. Cure Calypso."

Percy glanced at Leo, brows creasing in confusion. "What did you just-"

The man in black turned and smiled, his form flickering like a live hologram. In the light casted by the auroras he looked like a multi-colored ghoul dressed in Ancient Greek style. His skin was almost the same color as Thanatos, dark like almond nuts. His eyes twinkled the same as Nyx's, and he shuddered as the man focused his gaze at him.

Percy felt a million atomic bombs spark in him and he was glad it wasn't at all literal.

"Now we meet, Hero of Olympus," said the man. "I am Chaos, and we have to talk.

 


	2. Chapter 2

PERCY COULDN'T HOLD HIS CONFUSION any longer.

He made a time-out gesture with his arms. "You're the Chaos? And wait," he turned to Leo, "you're with Calypso earlier when you kidnapped me, right?"

"Those questions will be answered," Chaos said. He lightly bowed at the white-haired man sitting on the throne. Truth be told, the son of Poseidon didn't expect the god to be humble or modest- most gods weren't. "Thank you for hosting our presence in this place, Boreas."

The man- Boreas- nodded once at him. "It's my honor, Lord Chaos. It's been so long since you took on a form."

"I never did until this day," Chaos corrected.

"Dire times had forced my lord, yes?"

Chaos nodded. "Dire times indeed."

"And Leo Valdez!" Boreas was beaming, but Percy saw a glint of slyness in his eyes. "I remember you from the quest for Hera. I'm glad you survived."

Leo nodded without so much of a word. It wasn't like him.

Chaos sighed. He looked so normal, Percy thought he could pass for a mortal walking on the streets of the Big Apple- with the proper, Twenty-First Century clothing, of course. And that was quite unnerving because he's a god. Not just a god but the primordial who made the freaking universe. "Most of the time I don't have to take on a form," Chaos was saying. "It's the greatest form of freedom for us eternal beings, I think."

Percy crossed his arms. Trying on a defiant look while slowly freezing to death was hard, but he managed. Looking back, he had been through worse. He could've tasted fire water again in Tartarus. "If you're going to talk with abandon, please, get us out of this place before we die from frostbite."

The two men shared amused glances that made Percy think: Oh, Hades. No.

Chaos' eyes flared like a distant quasar, then winked out at the edges. "He's an amusing man, isn't he?"

Boreas glanced at Percy with a wary smile. The man looked like a living Santa Claus but he wasn't going to say that out loud; he wasn't that stupid. "Not quite a man yet, in my opinion. But, yes, Lord Chaos. He'll make himself remembered through the ages."

Was saving the world wasn't enough? Percy almost complained aloud. The gods and the Fates... the whole lot of them were unfair.

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus," Chaos called. Leo's head snapped immediately. Hope shone like a weak candlelight in his brown eyes. If Chaos noticed this he didn't let on. "Calypso is now outside the hotel. Bring her and Percy to the House, all right?"

Leo only nodded. His quietness was now getting on Percy's nerves. "As for you, son of Poseidon," Chaos smiled, "you must see what the world has become. That's the purpose why you're here."

"You mean why you kidnapped me," Percy deadpanned. The other demigod shot him a caustic glance.

"Watch the words, man. See that god on the icy throne? He could turn you into one of those." He pointed at the ice statues. "Take it from me; it's horrifying. As for Chaos-"

"I know," Percy's tone sounded dry and exasperated. You deal with gods for seven years, you get used to all the death threats.

Chaos nodded appreciatively. "I knew he's one of the best of this generation. He has a quick mind."

"I still prefer the son of Jupiter, though," Boreas added, shrugging. "He once defeated Gaea, see. Oh, sorry, my Lord."

"It's alright," Chaos replied, waving the matter aside. "My daughter is... how would the mortals say it?" He tapped his chin a few times, then snapped his fingers. "I guess it would be 'a total wreck'."

"Not to hurt you," Percy cut in, "but I agree that your daughter's a disaster. Literally. This guy here just had to die to make that goddess sleep."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Gee, man. Thanks for reminding me that I died."

"Then maybe I should give him a proper award aside from freeing Calypso of her most recent prison," Chaos said with a slight smile.

Percy took a sharp sigh. "Can we just... finish this up? Sorry if I'm being rude, Chaos Sir, and Boreas but-"

"Last day in Camp Half-Blood," -Now, Chaos was the one who cut through his words- "right, Percy? The time at this very moment might be a quarter till noon, a few hours before the patrol harpies come to your cabin and see if you have left."

Percy's jaw slacked. The thought was downright creepy: a god- no, a freaking Primordial, for Hades' sake- tracking his progress like a super-ancient stalker. Well, Chaos is a Primordial, the sane and rational part of Percy's mind told him. He could will himself to see everything. Still- His own father couldn't do as much... "research" on his son as Chaos just did. Poseidon had things on his to-do list, being a major god in Olympus. And, luckily, Percy was in that- most of the time.

"I bet you got the information from Leo," was all Percy managed to say back.

Much to the demigod's dismay, Chaos shook his head. "I see all, Perseus Jackson. That's why even if Gaea had miraculously fooled you and all the mortals, demigods, and most gods in this world..." He smiled "I am the only one who'd seen it coming."

"Hold on." Percy didn't know where to direct the question among the three males in the room. "How could a sleeping earth goddess fool us?"

"Look, Percy," Leo looked him straight in the eye. "They're getting closer to the explanation part. Let them do the talking." There was an unmistakable glint in his eyes- almost as if he was broken from the inside. In those brown irises he saw a splitting image of Nico di Angelo, on that moment after they've rescued him from Ephialtes and Otis.

That guy... He'd been through so much, endured Tartarus all by himself because of him. Percy Jackson.

They've come to better terms now, but he still felt uneasy around him. He wouldn't claim the Ghost King title if he didn't live up to the name. Leo gave him an encouraging look. Leave it to him for being quite an optimistic chap despite all the bad things that happened.

"You know, this might sound really normal of me but I don't get any of this," he complained at his demigod companion. Leo just hung his head, as if he was ready to die any moment.

"Then this might be the solution." Chaos nodded at Boreas' direction. Boreas waved his hand sideways and icicles from who-knows-where came together to form a typical flat screen, almost see-through TV. Percy was about to object- how could someone make that work?- when the images whirred on the screen. The sky seemed to drown in a soupy ink, with bloody red patches for clouds. There wasn't any sign of the sun's existence, but there was pulsing red light emanating below the horizon. Dark, stick-like figures flew around the sky.

"The arai," Leo said, wincing. Percy noticed the shorter boy's left hand twitching. "Have a huge hate for those hags."

Wait, how did Leo knew about them? Those creatures... Didn't they only existed in Tartarus?

Chaos glanced at Boreas once more. "Show him."

The god nodded once. "Yes, my Lord."

The scene changed. Percy could finally see the ground- or what should've been the ground. Cracks snaked all around the surface, pulsing. Within the cracks flowed something- some were white liquid, pitch black semisolid sludge. There was something that looked like molten gold and lava. It almost looked like-

"Veins," Percy breathed, shuddering. A tight knot formed in his stomach, as if pulling his attention to a certain detail. Before the idea of how so similar the mortal world and that other world looked could settle more in his already confused mind, Chaos' voice jarred him to the present. "You haven't seen the worst yet."

He still haven't. Percy doubted he wanted to see more.

The gruesome show of the landscape rolled on. The more he focused his attention to the footage the tighter the knots wound in his stomach. It became to hard to ignore but he managed not to keel over the ice. When he saw a few monsters milling around a small mound of corpses that looked vaguely human, he lost his bearings. And whatever was in his stomach.

"Sorry," he wheezed, wiping off the bile with the back of his hand. Well, he almost did, if not for Leo who offered a spotlessly white cloth from his tool belt. Once his locked with Leo's for a second, the son of Poseidon hoped his said thanks. - once it locked with Leo's for a second- said thanks. The god sitting on his ice throne was mildly disturbed. Maybe he'd seen it coming. He snapped his fingers and the gross puddle he'd created was gone.

The footage didn't stop playing it's horrendous and show, however. But when Percy looked back on it, the view turned into a familiar looking valley. Nothing filled the bottom area, and whatever occupied it was turned into large scorch marks. Only one structure remained. The lava wall stood defiantly at the edges of the screen but even so, Percy and Leo, spectators to a hellish place recorded on a mortal device, felt the heat from so far away.

The camera focused to the central pit, where three teenagers dangled above a blazing fire from a high beam. Sturdy ropes were tied like a noose around their necks. He saw them scream but no sound came. There were monsters around the fire, obviously having a great time seeing these people burned alive.

The most disturbing fact? They wore the same camp shirt as Percy did. Dread settled over him like a cold blanket, making him shudder.

These people were demigods. And that awful place... was the new Camp Half-Blood. 


	3. Chapter 3

"THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING," WAS all Percy managed to say.

The demigods burned. The demigods screamed, writhing in pain induced by gigantic flames licking and devouring them with relish. And there was the monster crowd, jeering, wishing for more pain to strike the poor demigods. And he was here. Percy, a Hero to Olympus, to demigods, whisked away in a fortress of ice (or a hotel with a penthouse suite made of ice, whatever).

He should've spurred into action- left the palace, probably force Happy The Dragon to transform back into a bronze dragon (although he had no idea how would he do that) and fly back to Camp to save them. After that, Percy thought of something but he came up with... Nothing. And that- he guessed, uncertain- was what kept him standing on his two feet.

A voice, warm yet filled with such power his knees almost buckled, spoke into his mind. It seemed familiar, and brought a faint scent of poppies. Facing them would be suicide.

"It is happening," Chaos muttered, genuine sympathy laced in his tone. "This was the world when Gaea won."

"But-" The words were out of Percy's grasp. "How..."

"Perseus, continue watching. There is something you must see- a very important... information."

He doubted that the important information Chaos had just said was practically cheerful. All that mythological jargon he'd been for years taught him to expect the worst. After all, he was Percy Jackson. Chaos nodded once again at Boreas, and the god snapped his fingers. When the scene didn't changed, Chaos asked Boreas to do that again. It didn't showed any change- and Percy was almost about to throw up whatever stuff was still down in his stomach.

Those good-for-nothing beasts were eating the burnt, lifeless forms of demigods. They tore limb from limb, competed for specific organs, broke the bones into splinters and used it for toothpicks. The last part was so eccentric Percy's eyes twitched. Something popped and sizzled. They all had a little jump from the sudden intrusion of the sound. The demigods shared a look when they caught Chaos react with a small jump of his own.

Yes, the primordial who created this freaky world and begotten a quite freaky set of gods, startled at a popping sound. Could've been funny if they weren't seeing doomsday, live and in person. Percy doubted that Chaos would take the joke lightly on a normal day, either. Frost crept from the edges of the magical flat screen TV, and all the while Boreas face scrunched as if he was feeling something. Bad, bloody likely.

"My own daughter," the god muttered, wheezing. It was a pain to hear that sound- the sound of someone suffering from something but was trying to hide it. "How can she betray her own house- her own kin!"

Chaos shook his head, a tight and grim expression crossing his deeply tanned features. "There is nothing we can do about it." When Boreas shot him a glance full of hurt, Chaos added, "Not yet, at the moment. Somehow, we might be able to turn her to us." He cleared his throat. "It will be better to not keep our hopes up, however."

"Who were they talking about?" Percy whispered to Leo, gaze still on the screen. Whoever goddess did this made quite a success in turning the screen into a fuzzy, black-and-white, static view with mini icicles and snowflakes.

"Khione," Leo replied. The way he'd said her name sent chills down his back. "Snow Goddess." Leo nodded at the screen. "She sided with Dirt Face here."

"Obviously." Percy wondered what this ice goddess was thinking about. To live in a harsh, hot place that mirrors the entire Heart would make her a total ace. When ice clashes with fire, the latter wins. That's how it works, not otherwise. This Khione will have to move somewhere...

Percy then took note of Chaos looking right at him. His gaze always raised his hackles, making him feel on the edge of growing anxiety. He drew a short breath as he looked at Chaos, feeling the beginnings of frostbite creeping on his hands.

"This goddess is..."

The Primordial lifted a finger to his lips. Silence. "She can't enter this place; I made sure of that. But, yes, she have reclaimed the extreme northern and southern temperate regions as her kingdom."

"Then why are we here?"

" This is Boreas' home, and he couldn't leave even if he wanted. This place is safe from any harm, Perseus," Chaos assured him. "And I am here. For her to challenge me in a duel is unwise. Same goes if she tries to challenge her own father."

There was a loud gasp all of a sudden. From Leo. The other boy, eyes seemingly glued to the screen, managed to find the sleeves of Percy's camp shirt and tug it repeatedly. He almost yanked Percy out of his feet, even.

"What is it?" Percy grunted, trying to regain even ground. Without a bite of food for almost twelve hours was already taking a toll on his already battered system.

"Look at the screen!"

He did. And his heart sunk deeper than the Titanic, if it was possible. There was a spotlight overhead a dais made of plywood, lighting up a wide room encased with large, ominous shadows and dark mist. A wooden cross stood on the center of the dais, and right on that cross, posed just like Christ when he died, was Annabeth. Percy felt a wooden spoke thrust deep in his heart, pull it up, and thrust it back again a few more times.

His knees refused to support him any longer, and his will to push all his emotions back crumbled to dust. He could only remember the remnants of what happened- the wailing, the slow, soft-spoken words of comfort from voices Percy heard in his head, and the pain that made him realize that everything they did one year ago didn't amount to something. That everything he and Annabeth had shared for a year, the memories he'd made with his friends- all of it was a lie.

His vision cleared bit by bit as he let himself realize things. Lies can make the world beautiful, while the truth makes the world a living nightmare. Leo helped him get up and together, they watched Percy's girlfriend being glorified by the dark fog. If it wasn't for the light, they would never be able to see everything this room held. Instead of nails, rusted chains wound around her limbs and torso to keep her in place. Red blisters formed in places where the chains touched her skin, a splotchy highlight among her many wounds. Her clothes were torn and singed, almost showing her stomach and thighs.

Her face, somehow, was clear of any visible wound. Not a scratch tainted her fair skin. She seemed to be in deep sleep, her face devoid of any expression.

"You must understand the situation before deciding on a course of action," Chaos started to say. "Gaea has taken Annabeth Chase, your...?"

"Girlfriend," Percy supplied sharply.

"She has plans for this girl," Chaos continued. "Of what plan it is, we haven't yet guessed what it is."

"I have to go there." He hoped it was right. He wanted to see her, to save her from the clutches of Dirt Face Gaea.

"True. But we can't have you unguarded, as you are one of the greatest heroes left."

Percy didn't want to ask why Chaos had said such. On a side note, where was everyone.... "So what do you want?"

"Leo will come with you," Chaos said this with a nod directed to the other demigod. "He'll take you to the House. Calypso will also help, as she had once been there."

"So it was her prison before?" Percy was certainly perplexed at the turn of events.

"I wasn't careful," Leo said. Misery dripped from his words. Percy figured it might help if he'd get Leo to talk to him later; the guy could be secretive at times. "We got caught when we were going back to Camp Half-Blood, were replaced by Mistforms, and we saw all this."

Leo averted his gaze and focused at a distant object- probably the farthest ice statue to the left, the one with a hammer. One year ago, the younger demigod was throwing it around airborne monsters frolicking by the Acropolis. He seemed so different from the first day they'd seen each other- more battered, broken, patched up miserably to keep his stand. Percy knew he was no different, but he'd taken it to heart that some people had it real worse.

"Stop blaming yourself, Leo Valdez," Boreas chided. He sounded like a father giving a sage advice to his son. "It won't make you feel any better. Besides, Lord Chaos has already freed her of her binds. She will be fine."

Percy looked at Annabeth's serene, sleeping face once more. His chest seemed to compress to the size of an apple. "Annabeth's waiting."

"The fate of the world depends on this mission," Chaos said.

Percy almost slipped out a withering laugh. Really, how bad things could go? But this was Gaea they're talking about. Maybe when she was sleeping she'd dreamed all of this happening in the future, and there might be more to this that the entire world hasn't seen yet. Percy couldn't let any more despair swirl right before his eyes. He'd had enough of it.

"Do you mind telling us how exactly are we going to overthrow Gaea?" Percy asked. "Or where our other friends are? My mom-" He felt another wooden stake stab him within.

A few seconds passed before Chaos smiled. "Your mom is safe in the House. Your friends are not."

"And so is the girl," Boreas added, whispering.

"And about my daughter..." Chaos sighed. "I believe the gods have come up with a plan of their own."

"And you?" Percy said. He noted a few seconds later that he voiced out his concern a little louder than he intended.

Chaos smiled again. "Come back here tomorrow and you will hear what I have to offer. If I don't see you within the day, my offer would be obsolete."

On that note, Percy turned to the doors and walked as fast as he can without slipping, letting Leo follow him as fast as he could. There was one thing in his mind.

_Whatever it takes, I will save Annabeth._

 


	4. Chapter 4

THE SUITCASE WASN'T THERE.

PERCY gaped at the spot where Festus the Suitcase-Shifting Bronze Dragon were when he realized it, but Leo was way too excited to mind. 

"Maybe she's with Calypso," Leo had guessed, and they took off. 

The lights blinded them for a bit, and after a couple of steps outside the suite, Percy found warmer air, more inviting and homely, enough to get him out of the frostbite zone. The light scent of mint mingled in the air. Percy almost imagined going back to Manhattan- No, he forced those thoughts back. As much as he yearned for his home, for his mom, he didn't want to risk thinking of something bad happening to them. Not when the mortal world was turned into a Heart of Tartarus 2.0. But he did had some thoughts. Disturbing ones, for that matter. 

Where were they? Do they see the world the way they always do? Or do they get glimpses of the real world at times? Where were the gods? Chiron? His friends? 

Enough thinking, he chided himself. Just walk. The hotel attendants didn't mind them as they went through the elevator, both demigods glorified with flurry and grime and grumbling stomachs. Percy's head swam in a daze, trying to fight off hunger and the last bits of coldness covering his body. They reached the ground floor with a couple confused glances of mortals thrown at them. Percy flicked them off the way he'd flick an ant off his shoulder. 

He looked past the double glass doors and he felt the ground tilting beneath his feet. The sun was up but didn't seem to be interested in giving warmth. Fluffy clouds gathered in thick clumps, but there wasn't much sign of an oncoming rain. Percy shivered again at the sight of even more snow outside, dead trees lining up the edges of rotunda. At the center of the circular path was a fountain as wide as the central fire pit in Camp Half-Blood, but the water was solid. 

There was more to it than just that, though. If he concentrated hard enough, the snow wasn't just snow but thick layers of ice, and there were no signs of life around. The sky was nothing alike with what he'd just seen, too. It was painted in dark blue and black, like bruises. The son of Poseidon only scrunched his eyebrows at the sight, his obliviousness gnawing at the pit of his stomach, feeling ticked off by the fact that no one could give him a straight answer. Was that too much to ask? 

The goddess stood right by the entrance, encased in a sheen and subtle curtain of gold and silver, a hand over a suitcase half as tall as her. Percy blinked at the suitcase. He couldn't believe it. Leo didn't bother hiding his lovesick tears as he tackled Calypso in a hug, which the latter returned with a smile and a hug. Apparently, Calypso's presence brought back good ole Leo, and that was something. The guy looked like he wanted to hang himself over a pit leading to Tartarus a few minutes ago. 

Calypso looked really comfy in her white coat that probably spelled expensive in imaginary, gold letters. And Percy was instantly ashamed of his camp shirt, pajamas, and a fuzzy pair of slippers. He should've asked to get changed before they went here. He could've gotten himself a protein bar or a bag of chips to fill him a bit. 

"I'm glad to see you again, Percy." Calypso's right hand was already held out. 

He shook it gently and felt a warm current rush through him- but it was faint, unlike those times when he was in Ogygia. "Yeah," he managed. His voice cracked slightly. Must be his thirst for actual water. "Me too. You're not a fake, right?" 

The daughter of Atlas only laughed for a bit, then she glanced at Leo with a coy smile. "Did Lord Chaos make me look like one?" 

The other demigod shook his head, smiling at her. "Definitely not, Sunshine." 

"See?" She smiled at Percy like they were good friends, but the male demigod refused to take it for granted. Not after Leo reminded him that he was the reason why Calypso had bestowed a curse over Annabeth. His life, in simpler terms, was a mess. 

"Everyone's confused." Leo was already by his side again, patting Percy's back. "Even the gods are trying to figure out how did half of Antarctica got transposed over Central America." 

Percy's eyes were wide, obviously as confused as a schizophrenic god in the Giant War. "How come I didn't see all this?"  _How was I fooled?_

"Hecate was involved," Calypso said, matter-of-factly. "And you know what she does." 

"Crossroads, magic..." It clicked in his head. "Mist." 

The goddess nodded apprehensively. "Come on. More explanation when we get to the House. The other gods who have survived the onslaught... They can explain it better than I can." 

"Where's that?" 

Calypso raised an eyebrow, the one that showed incredulity. "You don't know, Percy? Are you sure?" She stressed out the last word so much, the son of Poseidon felt like he was supposed to know it. 

He took a gamble. "Mt. Olympus? The one on the Empire State?" 

That smile told him it was right. "And if we don't hurry, Aeolus' aerial forces are going to kill us." 

This wasn't the first time where Percy just had to travel on air. Someone might've thought he'd get used to all that turbulence - what, with Zeus wanting him dead for winding his way around his domain multiple times- but he never did. This time, Zeus wasn't the one anticipating for his death but a god named Aeolus. Before they settled for the nighttime journey Leo's goddess for a girlfriend handed him a thick woolen coat to wear. For emergency, she'd told him. And a bit before that they munched and stashed away as many granola bars and chips as they can, storing them in a burlap sack that Leo tied at Festus' nape. (So he could watch on it, Leo told them.) 

Who would've thought Iris' little shop a teeny bit close to Alaska would still be doing business when the world's in a dire state? Nonetheless, Percy and the couple were thankful for their assistance, for their show of support as they left. It gave him hope, even if it was just a little glimmer in the dark, a little light lost and forlorn in the void. They started the journey from there, heading east. Heading to Mt. Olympus. It proved harder than anticipated. The anemoi thuellai attacked, relentless and unforgiving, hurling an endless array of lightning and tornadoes at them. 

About six hours from their departure Percy had already lost count on how many times Festus had to do stomach-churning somersaults and dives to escape them. Then the rain came, hard, and the anemoi left them, their reasons unbeknownst to the trio. The rain penetrated his coat. So much. Cold drops of rain stung like needles, but it left a soothing sensation, like someone had tinged his skin with alcohol. To say that the sensation was plain weird would be an understatement. Nope. Not at all. Leo pulled the reins and Festus dipped lower from the clouds, veering to the left as they make a controlled descent. The familiar skycrapers and commercial buildings New York held proudly of spread below them, their lights nothing but minuscule sparks against the darkness. It must've been around midnight or eight p.m., for all Percy knew. The moon was nowhere to be seen behind the thick array of clouds, not a single stream of its silver light penetrating. 

Curiosity took over him and he lowered his vision, the action almost similar from looking behind a thick plastic curtain without sticking his face close to it. 

New York was nothing but a wasteland. Millions of disembodied figures lay at the purple-red ground laced with a network of glowing tubes- veins, he corrected himself. Some parts of the city were littered with rubble, large shards of tinted glass, bloodstained slabs of concrete. Percy winced when he saw the ground where the apartment he lived for years was reduced to nothing, a crater about ten stories deep taking the space. Tears welled up again, stinging his eyes more than the rain did. 

Where was his mom? Was she saved? 

Percy hoped yes, and by keeping his hope his chest ached. He could barely take a single breath. 

He longed for a home to return to, but where could it be in a world like this?

 


	5. Chapter 5

THERE WERE LITTLE MOUNDS OF corpses, a stock of morsels enough to last a monster's puny lifetime. The sky was a familiar black and blue, and it did rain, the downpour coming from heavy gray clouds. In that other vision of the world, Leo and Calypso remained a calm stature, staring ahead, keeping their own pain to themselves. The son of Poseidon looked at his arms and found them brimming with blisters, all making him wince when he tried to touch them. Even pain was nearly nonexistent in that fake world, he realized, mind nearly numb from the ordeal. Percy wondered if he could escape from it altogether. Then again, he was the only one meant to see the world like this. Hecate meant to disorient him, to be confused. Leo and Calypso had told him so when they were sharing their meal at Iris' shop. 

"Can it be broken?" Percy remembered asking to no one in particular. There were two goddesses in front of him, and his only surviving friend so far, eating like everything was just... normal. It wasn't. The son of Poseidon could barely keep the oncoming vertigo of his at bay. 

"Only Hecate knows the answer to that," Iris had said, a sad smile tainting her usual cheery face. 

"But she turned against the gods," he had said back. 

"She didn't." There was sternness in the goddess' voice, one that Percy didn't expect from a usually cheerful goddess. "She was merely blackmailed." 

"By Gaea?" Just how vicious and cunning the Earth Mother is? "How?" 

"You'll know when you arrive at Mt. Olympus. The very person-" Lady Iris shook her head a little, "-no, a demigod- who've been used against the Dark Lady will be there. The Olympians and him... they can offer answers." 

He held a bitter laugh. "That's what they wouldn't do, I think. They'd probably cast a prophecy and I'd have to solve it in the middle of a gruesome battle. " 

"The gods will not hesitate this time." Lady Iris' tone was calm and pacified again. "Not when they're made fools right in front of their enemies." 

Percy shivered. He hoped that was true. Out of all demigods, he was getting sick of prophecies and his fate, both nothing but terrible. They had already walked a few steps from the humble shack, the cold other world devoid of any life lay beneath their feet, when Lady Iris called them. 

She had stood on the porch, a wistful smile on her lips. "Hope shines the brightest in the deepest chaos, Percy. You've known of this fact from the Second Titanomachy, your darkest battle so far. This is no different, only that a lot more things are at stake; not just the world but the things that made you who you are today. 

"Bring hope to the world drenched in despair, Percy Jackson." Then, "Catch." 

The rainbow goddess had tossed him with a purple orb. It was quite heavy, with a circular window the size of a penny. The insides were filled with dark liquid and a triangular-shaped card floated in it. "What is this?" He'd asked, holding up the orb. 

"It's one of those unbelievable toys that mortals make." The goddess had a sheepish smile. "A fortune telling orb for kids." 

He couldn't believe he was hearing this from a goddess. A goddess. Percy stared at the transparent circle hole, shaking the orb so the triangular card appeared. Nothing was written on it. "What's in it for me?" 

"When the time comes, shake the orb and look at the triangular card inside. It might help you make up your mind for something." 

"But how will I know?" Behind him, Percy could barely hear Leo and Calypso's exchange of words. It must be something about hurrying up. The goddess had already turned her back, heading to her shop. 

"You'll just know, Percy. Just like in the throne room when you faced Kronos, and just like when you gave Pandora's jar to Lady Hestia."

 Then she was gone, Percy's vision dimming at the edges. Unconsciously, his hands clutched the little sack where the orb remained dormant. He took deep breaths before opening his eyes again. Fake New York was back on. 

"There!" Calypso pointed at the tallest building in the metro, glimmering in faint white and gold colors, the adjacent buildings awash in paler hues. The Empire State Building. Mount Olympus. And they were about a hundred feet away from the topmost floors. 

"Festus, go!" Leo shouted, his voice almost lost to the wind. The harsh winds roared as they shot across the sky faster than they did, almost as if someone was behind them and they needed a quick escape for nth time. With that sour note, Percy glanced behind him. Nothing but darkness sprawled behind him, cold and unforgiving. There was an itch in his head, a gnawing feeling in his gut. His instincts told him that things were just about to get- 

The son of Poseidon heard Festus roar, and he turned back to see the bronze dragon blew fire up ahead, sputtered by the cold sheets of rain in a matter of seconds. Leo pulled the reins and shouted something, then twisted the dragon in a three-sixty as they descended. No one knew who their pursuer was but they took no chances at all. 

"What was that?" Percy asked, adjusting his coat. His hands gripped the sack as if his life depended on it, evident by how white his knuckles had turned. The dragon circled the building as they made a controlled ascent this time. 

"I don't know-" Leo was stuttering, keeping a firm grip on Festus' reins. "I just saw a hooded figure with manic red eyes jump straight at us." 

"Jump at us?" Percy gaped, incredulous. "At this height?" 

"It was insane, man. I wouldn't try it even if I got paid by a billion drachmas and got mechanical wings!" 

"By the way you described that thing," Calypso said, "it didn't sound human." 

"More likely," Percy agreed. "Wait, how will we get up on Olympus from the outside?" 

Leo turned back, a crazy grin accompanied by a mischievous glint on his eyes flashed at Percy. "We hit the ceiling!"

 Festus sped up and Percy was sure that his own heart rate was picking up too- their insane speed and the altitude contributing to his existing anxiety. Percy lowered his vision again from his fake reality. The Empire State changed dramatically. In the other side it looked like metallic stalagmite, endless individual wires the size of telephone cables interlocked to form the twisted, somewhat mangled structure shrouded in a faint, golden light. It was an immense structure, almost impossible to miss. Why didn't he saw this earlier, then? At the far top- which Percy guessed as the earth's zenith, or the six hundredth floor of the Empire State- was a roughly circular disk; a platform of sorts that must've spanned a hundred meters or so. 

They were heading straight to it. 

Festus seemed to be in overdrive. Percy felt his seat uncomfortably hotter than it was before, scalding him. But he stayed put. There was no reason why he should get off and ask for- Wait. "Why don't we try the elevators instead?" 

"Not the same!" Leo yelled. "Not safe, either!" 

The rain seemed to have passed already- the hot and cold sensation on Percy's skin had stopped altogether- but in truth, it wasn't. They've passed the gray array of clouds, shooting like a bronze rocket to the bruised expanse dead ahead. Then came the hit. Or what Percy expected to be the hit. His ears popped from the pressure change. He couldn't see anything for one second then he could, again. The sky was still a blackberry shade but circles of thinning silver lights filled the spaces evenly, expanding and expanding outward, turning in a clockwise motion. His stomach seemed to have dropped somewhere else, making him feel empty on the inside. With a jolt, Percy realized they'd hit the ceiling all right, but they'd merely passed it as though they were ghosts from the Underworld. 

How was that possible? 

"They're here!" A muffled, young boy's voice carried up to the trio's coordinates. Percy's heart fluttered with unknown relief; the boy sounded genuinely happy of their existing presence. 

"Someone call the gods!" said yet another voice- now of a girl's. "The heroes have arrived!" 

"Looks like they're actually happy seeing us," Percy heard Leo say. "The last time I and Calypso went, a lot of them Olympus-born kids wanted to kill us by throwing rocks." 

"Was that because you two got captured?" Percy got a nod in response. "Well, I think they've changed from that time. Let's go." 

And they did. It took them a few more minutes, however, as Calypso tried to call and ask them to stand back and let Festus descend. These people- a mixture of gods and half-mortals- heeded the Titaness' request, bouncing on the balls of their feet, apparently excited. He'd never seen a group of immortals this... happy. They were usually uptight, living for the sake of their own. Percy let out a huge sigh as he and Leo and Calypso got off Festus, the crowd swarming at them with huge smiles on their otherwise aging facades, their voices speaking of their elation. If an army of monsters faced him, and he remembered this particular day, he felt like he could beat them by a hundred times. 

He'd found home within the infinite fortress of evil that Gaea had put forth to life, one of those things he'd been thinking of ever since he'd left Boreas' throne room. If that was the case, then that's enough reason for him to believe that there was hope in the middle of this chaos. 

And that he will be able to find it.  

 


	6. Chapter 6

"THANK LORD CHAOS FOR GETTING you out of the spell," said one of the kids to Percy. "It was said that Hecate had made it."

"Out of blackmail," Leo added. He was right behind the son of Poseidon, together with Calypso. "Who knows, she left out a few tweaks so it could be destroyed by someone more powerful than her."

"But the gods..." another kid murmured.

"Hecate is a daughter of two powerful Titans," Calypso explained. "Despite being dubbed as a lesser goddess in Olympus, her powers are still something to fear, and that stretches from the ancient times until now. After all, she is a Titaness."

"Like you?" Leo asked at her.

"Like me. But I'm content being a simpler goddess, tend to my flowers, and not fight in any war."

"But you once did. Right?" There was a pause before Calypso answered, "Once." Percy remembered. She fought for her father, same as he. "I might do it for the second time. I want to clear my grudge..."

Towards Annabeth, Percy supplied, keeping the thought to himself. He tried to push the resentment back. It wasn't something he needed right now. What he needed was a way to save everyone who needed saving. A part of his mind wondered if Calypso had glanced at him when she uttered those words.

"So this means that I would see the world like this, now?" The rest of the entourage nodded. Percy felt the slightest twinge of jealousy at Leo and Calypso as they walked to this 'House'- the largest tent at the middle of the tent city namely Olympus. At least they had each other. Even he was lucky to have them- at least knew he wasn't completely alone. Annabeth and their friends were somewhere down there, suffering alone, dying.

"We can't be sure of that, though," Calypso warned. "So if you notice anything out of the ordinary, just tell us."

"Noted."

At ten feet, the kids left and only the trio faced the Olympians by the tent's apparent door. The House only looked larger, but no different from the rest of the bleak white tents. For the fourth time, the gods were in full attendance but not in the way Percy expected. The gods had mild wounds and gauze wrapped around their arms or wrist. The goddesses reminded Percy of flowers close to wilting, except for Athena and Hera who kept their heads high. Poseidon averted his gaze, crying and leaning over Hades' shoulder. The god of the Underworld looked uncomfortable from the setup but offered a few pats on his shoulder.

The sight hurt and comforted Percy at the same time. His tears were of relief now, and he was glad for that, too.

"Welcome, Percy," Hera greeted. Her face was a little drawn and not-so queenly from what he usually saw. "We're glad you made it this far."

Percy glanced behind, to the area where they seemingly crashed but didn't. "I don't feel all that glad."

He and the gods entered the tent, while Leo and Calypso were asked to help on the battlements. Whatever grandeur Olympus had was now gone. Inside the tent was a merry fire, crackling under Lady Hestia's guidance. She smiled to them, bowing lightly. The room was wide enough for them, and Percy chose to sit with his father. Zeus let them have their short moments while they discussed matters. Poseidon rambled about how thankful he was, promising that he'll do anything for his favorite son. With a shaky voice, Percy asked about his mom.

"We'll have a family reunion once we're done sorting out businesses," he promised. "This meeting won't take too long, Percy."

"Why not?" Poseidon smiled, and Percy felt like a little kid again. Safe.

"We still have to look after the defenses of this tower." Percy zoned in throughout that meeting of theirs as he and his father enjoyed each other's company in silence, but he caught enough words to make him snap out of the daze.

"A contest?" he asked.

Zeus nodded. "Indeed. The Earth Mother had announced a festivity throughout the crowd, right when he had conquered Olympus through the Mist. It is similar to the gladiator games from the ancient times."

"Who will even join that?" Percy's mind raced in the possibilities. "I mean, most of Gaea's minions are witless monsters."

Ares snorted. He had an eye patch on his right eye and a bandage by his left wrist. "There are monsters that have a human-like trait to them. Empousai. Centaurs. Cyclops. Laistrygonians. Lesser Giants. Only Tartarus knows how many of them are truly around.

"Do you think Gaea would just let the witless roam around like that in a formal battle to death?" The god of war snorted again, belittling Percy per usual. "The war is not open for those who are stupid."

And yet those witless monsters get in the vanguard. Pawns to feed the lions, Percy guessed. The real wars were done with the mind moving about. "So what does that contest have to do with us?"

"Gaea was searching for her second right hand in defense," Hermes explained, "some monster to stand alongside the Giants and fight. It's a big honor for the monsters, so the news was taken with a warm reception. We figured it might be a good idea to slip a few of our good monsters in their ranks to report, but Gaea seemed to smell them all and killed them posthac."

The word settled heavy on Percy's shoulder. Who knows which of his friends, if any (he hoped none), had joined that dire contest only to be slain in the end. Hermes shrugged. "Why would she need another powerful companion when the war seemed to be all hers, I have no idea."

"We all don't," Hades echoed, nodding.

"Gaea had announced that the contest will end once Tartarus had completely melded together with the Earth, whether a victor had been hailed or not," Hermes added. "Athena estimates the completion of their plan to be around August 18th this year."

Percy frowned, listing notes in his head. "My birthday."

"I think they truly planned things to land in your birthday." His father laid a comforting hand on his leg. "That way, you will see the world end before you knew it."

"And I'll be helpless to prevent such a thing from happening." Percy felt like hitting a wall out of frustration.

Zeus asked, "The contest is done, where, again?"

"The Parthenon," Artemis supplied.

Percy stifled a curse. "Too far."

"Another part of her plan," Apollo agreed. "To ensure that you'll be trapped here, I think. There are rules as well on that contest. The rules could never be told outside the arenas, lest they want to die, so we really don't know how Gaea manages her minions inside."

A thought sparked up, unbidden. "What date is it?"

Percy barely heard the answer from his father: "Fourteenth."

"Four days..." He looked at the Olympians, his heart falling into a pit, feeling his tears doing an encore. "Annabeth and my friends are in danger. And if I couldn't prevent this within four days-"

Percy buried his head in his palms, trying to think. Nothing came up, again. He heard feet shuffling next to him.

"Take this." It was Hestia. He lifted his head, and saw the goddess holding a mug of steaming hot chocolate. There was a smile on her face but he knew better. "I hope this will help you feel better, if for a moment."

He accepted the cup with thanks, nonetheless, feeling the pain in his chest subside as the hot chocolate scalded his throat.

"Your friends happened to be our sons and daughters," Zeus said. "We will save them; at the right time."

"What if it's too late?" Percy didn't intend to scream at their faces but he did. "I just- I couldn't bear seeing Annabeth tied to a stake like that. I couldn't even look at her-! Who knows what Gaea did to the rest?"

"What makes you think we could bear seeing our own blood torture to no end?" Athena's tone was icy. Her face was pulled taut by anger. "Do you think we could still have a peaceful sleep after everything that was done?" Her eyes smoldered. Not once did Percy try to take his glare down at the goddess although his body screamed otherwise. "Are we that heartless to you, you-"

"Don't you dare flick a finger at him, Athena," Poseidon warned. Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw his father's eyes darken like a storm. "Don't you dare. He's our last hope. Our last chance."

"Does that mean I'll have to-" Percy grasped for words again. "Just- storm in the contest and ruin-"

"We know you're an expert for ruining things," Hera started, "but you won't do that." Percy nearly spit out his chocolate.

"What?" What other way was there?

"You will join the contest," Hera said with a piercing gaze at him. Beneath that was a glimmer of sympathy. "As a monster."

 


	7. Chapter 7

PERCY COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT HE just heard. The gods wanted him to turn into a monster. A monster. Are they serious? Percy suddenly had a migraine. "What, again?"

"Do we have to repeat things, Perry?" Dionysus drawled, being his usual self and forgetting that Percy was not Perry. "We're not your parrots."

"Sorry, Mr. D. It's just- how could you think of that?"

"We have thought of everything that we must do," Hermes supllied, "and yet Gaea overthrows the plan and kills our constituents in tow. This seemed like an a-okay plan so far."

"I don't see how I could even pretend as a monster without worrying about the God of the Pit..."

The gods exchanged looks, then equally heaved a sigh. What, was there something wrong with what he pointed out? Tartarus would know somehow if he would pretend as a monster. The gods convened among themselves for a minute, and Percy swore their mouths weren't moving an inch. The gods stood, and only Poseidon, Hestia, and Hades remained sitting. He kept his eyes and ears peeled.

"Tell him the plan," Zeus told the gods sitting with Percy. "Make him understand. After that, send him to Alabaster."

"We can only hope that the child won't dare kill him," Hades muttered.

"Why would he kill me?" Percy asked, confused. For the life of him, he couldn't remember a person named Alabaster. The other side of his brain thought other things, like, why was Hades being nice to him. Or why did the gods plan on making a monster out of him.

"He has a score to settle," Apollo said. "His grudge goes back to the Second Titan War."

Percy couldn't remember. Great. Or perhaps he never really had a memory of that person in the first place. Was he a camper before? How old was he? "Which side was he in that war?"

"Kronos."

That hit hard. No wonder Percy didn't know the guy, but he knew Percy. And the resentment aimed at him made sense too.

"He knows Luke, served him in the war," Apollo added. "He was a general of half-bloods, led them and, as we all know, lost. Many of his siblings had died not only in battle but because of the schism between him and his siblings who sided with you."

"We made a mistake of exiling him." Percy was startled by Poseidon's words. He felt his blood starting to boil. "That made him vulnerable in the mortal world. His monstrous sister had chased him to no end, and we had forbidden Hecate to help-"

"I thought everyone had been pardoned!" Percy looked at the gods, his chest filled with an ugly feeling that he couldn't fathom what, exactly. "You all swore by the River Styx. And you didn't follow throughout your promise."

The gods only hung their heads and kept their mouths shut. Those who were standing left the tent one by one, until only the three gods and Percy were left inside. There was only silence.

"Percy..." Hestia murmured, her eyes radiating sadness that Percy felt. "Would you like some more hot chocolate?"

Percy felt sorry for Hestia. He receded his anger for the meantime and nodded, smiling a little at the little goddess. If he hadn't seen her before, he would've mistaken her as yet another child trapped up here. Hestia got up from the floor and prepared him his drink.

"What is this plan," Percy said, almost whispering. He felt his energy drained from his bones once more.

Hades wrought his hands together. "Hecate's son, Alabaster... He would bring you inside the contest as a monster. Perhaps a daimon from the Underworld, since that was his chosen form and also the form of the master he serves within Gaea's ranks. Before he was discovered, anyway."

"Looks like Gaea had thoroughly arranged her army now," the demigod remarked.

"Indeed."

Percy was surprised to find the god of Underworld to agree with him. He cleared his throat. "Once inside the contest, do I just fight my opponents?"

"Without your powers," Poseidon replied. Ouch. But then again, he only used his powers when the time was ripe.

"At least I'm still good with swords."

"You can't use Anaklusmos, either."

"What-" He almost shot up from his seat when realization dawned on him. "Right." A trademark sword of his, Riptide was the type of sword passed from one generation to the next. If Percy was to face those high-level monsters again, chances are he'd see the likes of those he had defeated. They would remember his sword that took their life, and the swordsman who swung the weapon.

"We'll craft a sword for you," Poseidon promised. Hestia gave his mug of hot choco, and Percy accepted it with thanks for the second time. "Your brother will craft a weapon that will suit your grip."

Tyson, Percy thought, a smile creeping on his face. Oh, gods. How much had he missed- all those months seeing fake images of them and now...

"Once you're in, you'll fight," Hades said. "Act smart in and out of the arena. Give us information whenever you can."

Percy glanced askance at his godly uncle. "I wish I could, but probably because I'm always fighting, I wouldn't be able to do much on intel." Hades nodded. "We'll just pass that to Alabaster, but we still need you to gather any kind of information."

"I'm guessing that Alabaster is an official?" Just what had he done to get the likes of Gaea tl trust him?

Hades nodded. "Alabaster had somehow gained Gaea's trust, even that of the Giants, that's why he could recruit people, and monsters alike, demigods who want to proves themselves for the Earth Mother's favor. Unbeknownst to them, they are working for Olympus and not the other way around. His enlistees usually win, and not a single one of them had been flayed as spies."

A sudden thought nagged at Percy's head. He took a slow sip of his drink before saying, "Haven't anyone thought that that was pretty suspicious?"

Hades and Poseidon exchanged glances. Hestia gave them mugs of hot chocolate- from the looks of the drink, it was probably spiced and mixed with nectar.

"Unnecessary," Hades said with a slight smile. "Alabaster made them believe he was still serving Kronos, and will be loyal to the Earth Mother."

"So long as his mother, Lady Hecate, is free and will stay with him," Hestia added in a soft tone.

Percy heaved a sigh of his own. Looks like the holes had patched themselves up. He'd still have to look after this Alabaster, though. There was something about him that made Percy jumpy. Funny because they haven't even met. Percy had no idea what he looked like.

"I think I'll go in with that plan," Percy decided. "But how am I going to rescue Annabeth and my friends if I'm fighting somewhere else?"

"That, would still be your job." Hades' eyes were as cold as ice. "Once you're inside Gaea's territory, you can't get out unless they say so. And you'll never save anyone if they found out who you are. For the sake of this world, turn your wits on in every single second that passes."

Percy looked at his father for a more positive reassurance, but he seemed to be in the same wave as Hades. "I'm afraid my brother's right, Percy. We can't help you. Not until the traps are placed and the bombs have been arranged. I know you could do what Hades had just told you. You've pretty much outsmarted most of your enemies. And you're not always a Seaweed Brain like Athena's daughter had always claimed."

Percy's chest ached at the mention of Annabeth. "She had been smarter than me. And what she had said that she always saved me? That was true, too."

"But you did save her." Hestia's smile was as warm as the chocolate, and the warmth reached Percy, easing his worries if for a moment. "And now, it's about time you make her proud. Her, your friends and your family."

Percy drank the rest of his hot chocolate, and he gasped once he finished it. The drink made him more alive than ever. "Thank you, Lady Hestia, Lord Hades." He smiled at his father. "Thanks, Dad."

Poseidon was teary-eyed again, but there was a goofy smile on his face. He leaned against Hades' right shoulder, saying, "This is why I'm proud of my son."

"You're just lucky he's here," Hades muttered in an even tone, although Percy sensed something darker in his words. Something more sinister.

"What happened to Nico? And Hazel?"

Hades averted his gaze, but focused again on him. His face seemed like a clean slate of emotions, but Percy felt the god's fear crawling under his skin as if it was truly his own. "Taken by Gaea. Both of them... They are contestants in the games as well." The god of the Underworld looked straight at his eyes. "Save them. All of them. Please."

 


	8. Chapter 8

PERCY LEFT THE TENT WITH his father, feeling like he had a dose of Jason's lightning bolt. Hades and Hestia had stayed inside, silent. Percy wondered what they could be talking about. Not so great news, perhaps. Everything was in bad shape. Gaea had everything in motion, and here he was, still figuring out where to set his two feet over thin ice. After a bear hug, Poseidon told him that he'd check over his mom.

"We told Alabaster to meet you before we all sup," his father added. "And when the dinner horn blows, Tyson will find you so you could eat with us."

His heart felt like soaring right there and then, but the image of his godly stepmom and stepsiblings racked his vision. "Dad?"

"Yes, Percy?"

Percy looked around to see if there was someone listening, and then whispered, "What about Lady Amphitrite?"

"Oh," the sea god muttered, scratching his beard. "Guess I forgot to tell you something." The father and son locked gazes at each other, and Percy watched as his father grinned wide- almost reaching his ears and eyes. "Amphitrite accepts the arrangements we have right now, so long as I sleep at the right tent and nowhere else. She's not at all mad at your mother, not after Amphitrite heard that Sally had turned your idiotic stepfather Gabe into stone."

Percy couldn't help but grin at that. "Looks like a good day for our family."

Poseidon nodded, then the god took off, walking like he was going to the coast to fish and hunt for crabs. Percy took his gaze away for a moment, thinking of the possibility that he'd have a sibling because of these arrangements they have. He'd learned how gods acted, especially with that sort of things. He didn't want to have a sibling because he knew it meant danger for the both of them. It meant gods getting mad at them- from breaking a solemn oath, from being too powerful, there could be a million reasons why. Those gods might even shun them, hire knives after their trail, and where would they go?

A call jarred Percy out of his train of thoughts. He turned, and he saw a boy almost as tall as him with unruly brown hair. He looked a bit skinny and gaunt, but underneath the choppy fringes of his hair, his eyes lit up like Greek fire.

"So we meet." He smirked. "Finally."

"Alabaster?"

"Me." He held out his hand, and Percy took it, feeling quite reluctant. There was something off about him... Maybe it was just Percy. "Want to be a hero again? Come with me."

They wound around the tent-filled blocks, heading for the second largest tent situated at the eastern side of Olympus. Unlike most of the cream-colored tents, that one was completely pitch black. At the clearing was a park full of Olympus-born kids, playing a normal, non-godly version of tag. It was fun seeing them run around and work their body out. The boys picked their way through the kids, occasionally helping out the little ones who tripped over while running. Some of the kids recognized Percy and greeted him with big, ear-splitting smiles. Some saluted Alabaster, especially the young boys. Alabaster saluted back, a small, humble smile gracing his features.

At least he's treating them nice, Percy thought.

He turned his gaze forward and saw that they were already by the tent flap. Sable lights seemed to filter through the entrance. Alabaster put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go in first. When you see the first strobe of white light, you could enter."

He only nodded, watching as the gaunt boy enter with pride dancing about his figure. As the sable lights faded, Percy saw the tent turn its dark colors to gray. For good measure, the son of Poseidon waited until the tent had a pure white color again. Inside, Percy swore he could've entered a fortune telling tent in a carnival and not notice the difference in between.

Dream catchers hung across the ceiling like chandelier, most of them gleaming and seemed to glow from the inside. Orbs of every color lined the edges of the tent, giving the tent a slight civil war of primary and secondary colors. Alabaster sat behind a round table with a white, elaborately laced table cloth. He gestured Percy to sit on the chair that dragged itself across Alabaster.

Son of magic, Percy thought. Of course he could do that.

"The gods have told you, yes?" he prompted.

Percy nodded. "It seems like you're the only way for me to get close to Annabeth and my friends."

"True enough." He leaned on his chair, and Percy had a notion that he was tipping the chair so it stood on two pegs. "I've seen them there, thought you should know. Your friends are being pitted against each other. And when they don't fight, the Giants punish them."

Madness felt so close to Percy at the moment. He internally yelled at his anger to get lost. "Don't tell me that. Give me a heads up, if there's still any." He added quickly.

Alabaster seemed to ponder on his word choices. "I'll give you a choice, Jackson. Do you want to be a monster, or a Mistform?"

Percy's mouth worked faster than his brain. "A Mistform." Anything, really, as long as he wasn't a monster.

"I see," he mused. "I'll do what I can, but no promises, alright?"

"How did you work your way inside?"

His gaze turned on one of the orbs by the left. He looked at the orb as if the object had hurt him before. "Wasn't easy. Soon, they discovered who I was. I swore fealty to Gaea, act as a spy for them. The Giants have eyes everywhere, so I had to be ten thousand times careful."

He didn't answer the question but Percy let the matter go. "Hecate helped you."

"She did. My mother always did." He sighed. "The one time she didn't was when I was exiled by the Olympians."

Again, Percy's mouth was faster than his neural network speed. "Why are you doing this?"

He folded his hands and leaned his chin on it. "For my mother and my siblings."

There was a brief silence between them, then Alabaster stood and walked among the orbs. The colors in each orb swirled until there was a pattern of two whites and two black orbs in the line. One by one, streams of light appeared from the top of the orbs. The streams converged below the ceiling's highest point, and formed a grainy square.

"A projection," Percy observed.

"You're learning fast," Alabaster said, nodding at his direction. "But there's no doubt you were oblivious on a lot of things."

"People mistake me for being stupid," Percy complained. The outburst came from nowhere. "As if that was my biggest problem."

"At least you could keep a low profile," the son of Hecate pointed out. "On the mortal-based reality only, though."

Percy nodded, agreeing. "What's that, anyway?"

The square had flickering images of what Percy guessed was the Parthenon. The temple hung proud at the mountain's crest, a lone white among the blood red landscape. Everything else were ruins. At the city proper, a big arena had been built for the occasion, shadowing lesser buildings. There were several processions around the arena. The screen switched scenes, gaining static fuzz in the process. Percy could make it out faint shouting sounds. The fuzz cleared.

The arena was big- it might have been bigger than the Coliseum in Rome. Monsters filled each seat, each bench, all shouting. Then he realized those were monsters cheering and egging the two current contestants marching for battle. Percy squinted at the screen, but even he couldn't see who the two contestants on the arena were. They looked human enough- a single head, hair, two arms, two legs, and dressed in standard human clothes. But then, Kelli and Dr. Thorn had dressed like that before they went beast mode on him.

Whatever the case, the screen, or the camera that took footage of this, was too far for him to be sure of his guesses. The lights from the orbs shut off, sudden. The screen disappeared.

"I was just about to guess who were those people," Percy grumbled.

Alabaster cocked his head towards him. "Guess? If you wanted a list of the participants, you could've asked."

"You have a list?"

He snapped, and a black scroll appeared on his hands. Alabaster gave it to Percy.

"Old-fashioned," Percy noted, unraveling the silver ribbon that kept the scroll sealed.

Alabaster shrugged. "They hate modern day papers." He nodded at the scroll.

Percy unfurled the scroll and psyched himself from what he was about to read. The letters were written in Greek, and Percy easily translated each word into English in his head. He skimmed through the text, his eyes widening at the last three lines.

_The Six of the Prophecy will gladiate against the thirteen Giants._

_Nico di Angelo and Reyna Arellano, deigned to a Pankration against Antaeus._

And at the bottom of the scroll was:  _Lordship and Immortality will be given to anyone who brings Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, to the Heart's Feast at 18th August, 2011._

 


	9. Chapter 9

**"HAVE YOU AGREED ON SOMETHING** in your small talk?" Poseidon asked at him. He sat at the head of the table, and Percy sat on the right side with his mom, and Tyson. On the left side was Percy's godly step-family: Lady Amphitrite, the sea herald Triton. Mermen- in their human forms- filled the rest of the seats in a table too wide for five people. The deities came around to report good progress on their 'little project' which Triton led. Around them were countless people, all doing a great job in merrymaking on their respective tables. 

From time to time, people of all ages would switch seats. There was a table where all the Olympians and the minor gods sat. Only Poseidon decided to sit with his family. If there was no problem at all and no one was suffering or hiding the pain in their eyes, this could've been dubbed as a celebration. Percy glanced at his stepbrother, and not once did he fail to see the arrogance in his eyes. 

"Yeah." He turn his gaze towards his father, smiling. "We've come up with a plan." 

"Did you choose being a monster?" Triton lilted, adding a smirk thereafter. 

Percy ignored the look, pressing his attention on his plate. "I choose being a Mistform. He didn't promise, but it wouldn't hurt to hope." 

Poseidon seemed to read past his skin. Gods usually did. "You're worried about Annabeth not recognizing you, is that it?" 

He nodded. "No sense scaring her while doing a rescue. If she has enough energy left, she'd judo-flip me first before believing I'm her boyfriend." 

"How would you manage that?" Percy's stepmom managed a stern look. "Don't you think you're jeopardizing everything else by deviating from the original plan?" 

He only smiled. "That remains to be seen." 

The dinner was spent more in silence, sweet nothings, and Triton's plans. Sally and Tyson excused themselves after finishing their servings. The minor sea deities told more of their unfortunate events below. They'd kept distance from the rampaging Polybotes, always complaining about not finding Percy Jackson yet. 

"The forces are still holding everything together," one of the mermen said. "It was rather good luck that both Pontus and Oceanus were going against Polybotes, even going as far as healing the seas and rivers that Polybotes had poisoned. The Earth Mother couldn't do anything but reprimand her son, threatening that if he continues what he's doing, she'll have no choice but to kill him in Tartarus' hands." 

Poseidon was nodding. "That's a rather good news." 

Percy couldn't help but agree with his father. He wolfed down the rest of his supper, listening close. 

"Both the old sea gods let us keep our territories including yours, Lord Poseidon," another merman said. "They were sure that they'll claim the territories anyway when the Heart's Feast is over." 

"So as long as we don't do any harm against them, we're safe," Poseidon stated. The deities nodded in assent. "We'll keep a low profile, let them think what they're thinking. Abide the old gods, alright? And never forget to report. When the time comes, we'll strike with all our might." 

"Yes, my lord," the mermen answered altogether. 

They all left their table after that, followed by Percy's step-family. Percy could feel his father's gaze burning at him as he finished his third helping. 

"Have you considered everything, Percy?" Poseidon asked him. "As in, everything?" 

Percy made a rundown list in his head consisting of everything Alabaster and he had set up for an hour or so. The last on the list involved both Alabaster's and Chaos' participation. "Yes. We've carefully thought of everything." 

His father gave him a grave nod, like he'd checked the list Percy had in his head and didn't like what it all meant. "I hope you won't regret what you're about to do, Percy." 

"I'm doing this for my friends and my family." Percy didn't expect his voice to fail him just then. "I won't regret this." 

The early morning trip back to Boreas' suite was a great stress reliever. The boys asked for an out by the break of dawn, and the Olympians bid them goodbye after dressing them in warm clothes. Percy felt like drowning in his aviator jacket. He remembered Chaos' words to him yesterday, and he asked both Leo and Alabaster if they could all go faster. In the end, Alabaster transfigured a spell to make their travel faster. Percy recalled his hyper-speed experience with Butch, an amnesiac Jason Grace, and the confused Leo Valdez and Piper McLean. That felt like ages ago. What Alabaster did was no different, but Percy felt time slow 'round by him although they were flying at breakneck speed. 

When Percy opened his eyes again, the hotel was now a great ice palace, with blue-white lights illuminating the structure from within. The auroras on the bruised sky gave an eerie glow on the ice. Percy's eyes adjusted from the brightness of the castle. Everything else around them were dark and lifeless. Leo spurred Festus into a controlled dive, and the bronze dragon hovered instead of setting his foot on the icy surface. His wings flapped nervously, like he was debating on landing or not landing. Alabaster created a ladder out of his cards and they got off the dragon's back. As Leo calmed his dragon and urged him to transform back into a luggage, Percy approached the son of Hecate, who was about to put his card set inside a glass casing. 

"How did you do that?" Percy gestured at the cards. 

"Just for Hecate kids," the demigod replied, shuffling his cards before Percy. He took one of the cards and showed Percy a figure of a man drawn with, obviously, a Sharpie. "Meet my Mistform guardian," Alabaster said by way of greeting, "Dr. Howard Claymore." 

He tapped the card with his forefinger and a man appeared before them. 

"I don't remember taking a fourth passenger," Leo said, looking at the man with glasses stretching beside Alabaster. Percy saw the bronze luggage beside the son of Hephaestus. 

"He's with me all the time," Alabaster stated. "He's a Mistform." 

Leo gasped. "Are you serious? He looks human..." 

"That's because I _am_ a human," the man intoned, exasperated. 

He gasped louder. "He even speaks!" 

Claymore narrowed his gaze at Leo, his expression a cross between insulted and confused. 

"I don't think he meant that to be a... you know," Percy cut in, giving an apologetic look to the man. Sometimes, he wondered if he and Leo were connected somehow in their past lives- if they even had one. They both have crude jokes that were never meant to be said out loud. "We never really saw Mistforms live and in person." 

"You're seeing one now." Alabaster patted Claymore's arm. 

Maybe Percy should call him Doctor Claymore. Formalities was always a must, although the man wasn't really a god or anything. "How did you...?" 

"Oh, that? It's been ages since I first saw him. Dr. Claymore was a mortal who could see through the Mist, although it didn't show until we had met. We met in a conference, once asked him on how to defeat someone who keeps coming back from the dead. "At that time, I had no idea that Gaea was rising and the Doors of Death were out of Thanatos' command. Being an exile I had no forms of contact, and even if I could connect with mother for a short while in my dreams, she couldn't disclose any information about the war. 

"Anyway, Dr. Claymore's books were always about death and afterlife, but he never really believed in gods. After that conference he got involved in a fight with me and my ugly monster sister, Lamia." 

Percy pressed on. The son of Hecate didn't seem to mind telling them what. 

"Lamia figured I was the one talking with him," he continued. "She's been searching for me for months, chasing me to no end. Once she knew that I've given Dr. Claymore the means to contact me while he was in town, she started attacking him. He sacrificed his life just so I could defeat her. My mother gave him another life in exchange of saving me, that's why he's now a Mistform." 

"And I'm grateful, mostly," Dr. Claymore said, smiling. "Although, to be honest, you could've let me out more often, Alabaster. My bones are becoming brittle from my time in your cards." 

Alabaster chuckled. "We could agree on something, but maybe later." Alabaster gestured at the palace steps, just a few meters away. "We have a more important business deal right now."


	10. Chapter 10

**THE PALACE, DESPITE BEING MADE** of pure ice, was as warm as the Olympians' tent on Olympus. Chaos probably intended that so the three half-bloods would feel at home, but Percy felt those ice statues of Boreas' looking intent at his every step. 

Eventually, Dr. Claymore demanded to be placed back to the comfort of Alabaster's card, which the latter immediately heeded. Percy couldn't blame him; it was too cold, and only Leo's fiery hand gave them warmth. The icy doors soaring forty feet high closed with a loud, final-sounding boom. He shook off the cobwebs, reminding himself that Chaos wasn't the enemy but his daughter. Once they passed the long hall with the frozen humans, the trio entered another huge double doors made of ice. The floor was wide enough for a thousand people, the surface softly glowing and warm. At the far end was a dais with multiple steps, and at the highest step was the throne itself. The hall's ceiling was wide open, and when they all looked up, they saw the auroras they've seen outside the palace. There were actual stars too, moving about in concentric circles so the stars looked like circular streaks. 

Percy saw the god of the northern winds sitting on his throne, grinning at them from his high throne. He wore his crisp white chiton with gold linings and a frozen wreath of bone-white laurels with trails of icy blue. Apollo would've been jealous at that- the wreath was too pretty for words. 

"So you came back!" The god's elated face wavered a bit at Alabaster's direction. "And you two brought along the one who started the downfall." 

"What?" Percy faced Alabaster, an eyebrow raised. 

The guy in question had his jaws clenched tight, his head bowed a bit so his fringes shielded his eyes from their view. The son of Poseidon looked at Leo for an answer but he just shrugged. Leo's eyes said nothing. 

"Long history, that," Boreas' voice boomed across the hall. He was all smiles again. He only nodded, letting go of the matter but not forgetting the moment. 

Percy's gaze wandered around. "Where is... Lord Chaos?" 

"Here." 

The boys turned, and Percy almost hadn't stifled his yelp. Behind them, Lord Chaos stood half the door's height- around twenty feet, give or take. He was more imposing than the time Percy had seen Nyx, and she had stood on her floating chariot, all forty-feet of darkness plus the vampire horses. Then Chaos morphed into the size of a regular adult, black robes billowing behind him as he trudged towards them. Chaos tilted his head sideways, his gaze on Percy. "You and I will have a private talk. Your friends can ask Lord Boreas for his counsel on the war efforts of Olympus." 

"Don't ask an old man for advice." Boreas' warning yet lilting voice drew his attention. "My joints feel rusted, I assure you." 

"That wouldn't stop us from asking a few things," Percy heard Leo say. 

"Alright, alright." The god held his hands up in the chilly air. "Tell me what you have to, but keep some secrets to yourselves. You never know who's listening." 

"Perseus," Chaos called, his voice suddenly afar. When Percy turned, the creator of the universe was standing at a side door that Percy hadn't noticed among the ice. Like most things inside Boreas' palace, it was blue with a nondescript facade. He was waiting. "Come with me." 

Percy ran across the great hall, the voices of Leo and Boreas sailing through the air. Alabaster was silent as the two exchanged their views on the war. Exiled before, treated like he was the one at fault today. He couldn't help but feel sorry, then feel guilty because it was his fault (indirectly, anyway) why he was exiled by the gods before. 

 _Maybe he is at fault_ , a vague voice nagged at the back of Percy's head. 

 _But does it matter?_ he said to the voice. _He's repaying for whatever he had caused by becoming a double agent despite all the risk that came along with his choice_. 

 _You've only talked for an hour or so_ , that voice said again. _How could you be sure that he's worthy of your trust_? 

Percy reached Chaos- okay, Lord Chaos. (Can't forget the honorifics, Percy added in his inner monologue.) "After you, Lord Chaos." 

Chaos turned his (literally) starry gaze to the door and he touched it. The ice melted, revealing a pitch black door with a embossed eight-directional arrow made of stainless steel. "Starburst," Lord Chaos stated, as if reading his thoughts. The door swung inward, and Percy faced a pure white hallway that seemed infinite on all sides. He couldn't even guess if there was a floor. Chaos went in first and Percy followed right behind him. There was a floor beneath his feet, but walking felt like he was crossing a narrow bridge. 

"Your symbol...?" 

The Primordial nodded at Percy's guess. "It symbolizes the beginning of all." 

Percy recalled something like that in a Science class. The Big Bang, it was called. The universe would only expand, pushing back all those old stars farther away to give light in the infinite darkness. And there was the Big Crunch, too, but after billions of years, the universe would collapse in itself. Surely, Lord Chaos wouldn't plan on collapsing the entire universe just so Gaea could rest in eternal peace, right? The door shut itself. Percy immediately looked back and found nothing but white. 

"We're alone," the creator standing before him intoned. His voice turned into one of those demon-possessed characters in a movie- the one where the male voice imposes over a female's. "You can't find anything else in here but me." 

"And me." Percy's voice echoed although there were no walls to be seen. He couldn't get himself to walk freely, as if one wrong step would send him falling to nowhere. "Where exactly are we?" 

"My home, under the darkness of the first night, Nyx." 

Percy looked up. There was nothing but white. He'd heard Akhlys mention that before, and the darkness truly felt morbid. He hadn't experienced being that close to death... 

"I told you," Chaos said in his weird, hair-raising voice. "You can't find anything else here but me. And you." He added quickly. 

"If this is really under Nyx's mansion-" 

The expanse suddenly darkened. Percy felt like the world shut off before he knew. Blindness startled Percy so much he started clawing his eyes. Coldness hit him in huge waves, the cold burning his skin. The memories since he was a child came back, more vivid than any dream or nightmare, as if he was truly there; with Sally and Paul, his father holding him in his arms when he was a child, the schools he'd studied in, Camp Half-Blood, Camp Jupiter, all his friends, the gods, his quests, the wars, the deaths; Annabeth. 

She was smiling at one moment, crying in the next. 

He felt his energy drain faster than he expected, his breaths came shallower than the last- The world turned pure white again. Spots filled his vision, but Percy had adjusted, blinking fast. His feet felt as soft as cotton; he could barely feel himself standing. 

Chaos hadn't moved an inch, his starlight gaze soft yet intense. "Now, do you know why?" 

Percy was still catching his breath but he nodded. The cold and darkness reminded him of inevitable death. No, that wasn't it. He felt like dying at that very second. "So..." He cleared his throat. "Change topic." 

Chaos cupped his chin for a moment, his gaze on the floor. Percy waited until Chaos was staring at him again. "If anything, I'm glad you've come back. I don't see anyone else who could do what I'm asking you to." 

 _Me too_ , but Percy kept his tongue to himself. _I couldn't believe I wanted to do the same thing._  "What is your offer, Lord Chaos?" 

"A simple thing," he said, but Percy felt like it was going to be hard on him. "Offer your life to me. Be my mortal host, Perseus Jackson." 

**End of Part 1**

**\- • -**

 


	11. Chapter 11

_Part 2_

**TONIGHT, AUGUST 15, PERCY WANTED** to kill everything that moved on the bleachers. Everything that slithered, crawled on whatever number of legs, skittered on hooves- name an inhuman movement, Percy saw it there. A fleeting feeling told him that killing them may ease his fraying senses as he stood at the edges of the sand-filled ring. He'd been fighting for hours now, besting a grand total of fifty-six monsters. If it wasn't for Alabaster's strength potions and other healing trinkets, Percy would've collapsed and his Mist disguise would melt away like ice cream under the sun.

"Hit them hard," Alabaster whispered behind him, both his hands clamped on his shoulder. He had insisted on keeping Percy's (twisted) shoulders loosen up so he'd feel more comfortable. Well, the son of Hecate only ended up in vain because they were in a monster territory and the adrenaline wouldn't let Percy calm down. 

"Have no mercy," he continued, his tone grim. "And keep tabs with the ring." 

The ring itched on his right ring finger on cue. It was made of enchanted Stygian iron, (so he wouldn't die at its touch) filled with runes and the centerpiece was a cream-white starburst. Chaos' gift, or rather, Percy's death sentence. "I know. Better not use this here- might blow up the place." 

Which he liked, but no. That meant blowing his strong disguise that Chaos helped in making, too. 

Somewhere up, a monster declared through a crackly speaker, "Let the last game tonight begin!" 

The monsters cheered, their clamoring voices roaring across the big coliseum. The Parthenon was right above the hill, a few hours of climbing and he'd reached the temple. Their cheers were mostly "Die, die, die!" or "Kill, kill, kill!" Some chanted for the Earth Mother, which wasn't really surprising. Percy felt so small against them, but then he'd been to Tartarus and he thought he was quintuple-times dead. 

_If it wasn't for Bob...._

Percy stopped at that, slightly shaking his head. He wouldn't want to cry in front of these nobodies. Alabaster squeezed his shoulders one last time before backing out to the nearest arena exit. He was lucky to get his human form back after revealing himself. He tried to recall how he got here, how Alabaster's Mist tricks made him into a daimon with a semblance to Misery (plus her gargling voice, yes), but all the little memories made him mad on the world he was in. He asked to be a Mistform and this happened. Percy could only sigh and hope for the best while Elpis was still safe in her pithos. 

Across his position, the bars of a metal gate looked like scorched teeth, opening to reveal his first opponent. The mob silenced a bit, exchanging hushed bets of who would be Percy's opponent. Later, he told his thoughts. I have some monsters to send to their dearest Papa Tartarus. 

"On the... left corner!" said the monster announcer. He had a scratchy voice, like he'd spent his life shouting and now he was paying the price of that. 

"There's no left here, you idiot!" Percy felt a pang of familiarity at that monster's accent, but he hid his emotions well behind a wall. 

"Whatever, Geryon! Shut the hell up!" He bit his tongue. _Knew it_. Percy didn't bother searching for him- he'll see that three-chested beast sooner than he wanted. 

The announcer coughed his throat, silencing the roar of monsters. It sounded like someone choking himself to death. "On the left corner, a daimon who goes by the name of Earl Nightwing, a recruit of our great Alabaster Torrington!" 

Percy raised his sword, and quite a lot of monsters cheered his fake name. Alabaster might have had a fanbase among them, since his monsters and turncloak recruits were the usual winners. Speaking of which, Percy would ask him if he could meet those ones... 

"-a new one so go easy on him," the announcer was saying. "Next, on the right corner, we have one of our top prisoners-" 

The monsters hollered, and Percy heard a sigh by the intercom. "There they go again," he heard the commentators sigh. There were arguments too, but Percy could barely make the words out because the monsters were too noisy. Apparently, they were pretty excited with the 'top prisoners'- Percy's friends- fighting monsters. Hours before he and Alabaster had arrived at Athens, the latter told him that his friends ofttimes lost. 

_"How would they even lose?" Percy had asked, bewildered. "The monsters cheat a lot," the other replied._

_"Sometimes, Gaea uses Mother and her minions to make the fighting tip to the monster's favor."_

"This would be his warmup fight," the announcer prattled on, "before he battles with our Pankration champ-" Percy's face went numb again as the announcer shouted his name. "-son of Hades, Nico di Angelo!" 

The boy in question appeared from the shadows of the other gate. Percy sucked in a breath, then remembered he was an emaciated daimon with a semblance of Misery. Wrong move right there- Nico di Angelo had met Misery, too. 

 _It's not like you_ knew _that you're going to fight him_ , a miser in his head babbled. 

Nico's face looked a bit drawn from lack of sleep, a common thing from most human participants Percy had seen outside the arena. He held the hilt of his Stygian iron sword in his right hand, the double-edge blade emitting black mist and hissing like a riled snake. Nico beckoned him to come close with his free left hand, his pitch black eyes drawing him; cold. Percy shuddered, circling Nico from afar. 

"Remember, folks," the announcer said, "this is a fight to the death and-" 

Nico charged, swift as an arrow, not waiting for the announcer to finish his words. He lunged at the surprised Percy, almost cutting his precious head if the latter hadn't held his sword to block the strike. Percy's feet dug deep in the sand, Nico's strength pushing him halfway to a crouch. He might look thin, but he did have the strength... 

"I've fought so many of your relatives," Nico hissed, the poison in his words luring Percy to fess up that he wasn't a monster; not even close. "You'll die today, I assure you that." 

Percy found the strength to push him back, throwing Nico to the sand. He stayed where he was, psyching himself for another swordfight as Nico stood and spat on the ground. Yelling a battle cry, Nico charged at him again. They exchanged blows and strikes and parries, each hit almost marking new wounds on their bodies. The monsters roared whenever Percy manages to throw Nico off his stance. When Nico gained advantage, the monsters yelled at Percy to kill him already. 

Five minutes in the battle, Percy managed to twist his sword and throw Nico's deadly one away. He yelled out of frustration, then pulled two pitchfork daggers out of his belt. The fighting continued, and Percy observed that Nico was a lot faster and more agile with his new weapons. Percy cursed; daggers were smaller and takes less efforts to wield unlike a sword. His sword arm felt heavier already from fending him off and taking offense at the same time. On the other hand, Nico was getting too aggressive, and the cruel glint of his eyes said the same message. 

The monsters yelled some more, and they were yelling for Earl Nightwing. 

"Finish that, Earl!" Percy heard Geryon somewhere behind him. "Kill him!" 

Percy lost his rhythm. _Kill-?_  

Nico pressed on, taking the outbalance to his advantage. Percy tried blocking the strike but Nico moved to his side, waving his daggers as Percy blocked each strike with wide eyes. Nico's eyes were intimidating, almost like Hades'. His foot caught behind the other and he was about to stumble- Nico's gleaming pitchforks crossed his neck, his body supporting behind his. 

"Who are you," he demanded, whispering. He was out of breath, and so was Percy. Nico was warm yet his skin was cold. 

"Talk to you later," Percy hushed out, making his mouth move less. He raised his hands in surrender- that way, Nico wouldn't force himself to kill the daimon he'd just ensnared with two daggers.

Percy barely heard him say: "Percy?" 

"And it ends!" The announcer beamed, surprisingly cheerful against all the 'Boos'. "The winner for tonight is Nico di Angelo!" More disdainful shouting. There were insults thrown at Percy/Earl, but it wasn't the most disturbing thing. Nico knew it was him- by his voice or maybe he saw who he was behind the Mist. But if he did, then why was he fighting Percy like he was truly a monster? 

Alabaster came straight from the bleachers, jogging towards him. Nico released him from his pitchforks, kicking his back like they were enemies. Percy landed in the sand, feigning defeat and disheartening. 

Alabaster helped him get up. "You okay?" he whispered. 

"Nico knows," Percy whispered back. 

"By your voice, right?" Percy nodded. 

Both of them faced Nico, and Percy gestured a, "I'll be watching you" with two fingers on his daimon eyes, then jabbing them at Nico's direction. The monsters "Ooh-ed" at that and laughed, maybe thinking that the Earl Nightwing would be out for revenge, but Nico seemed to get the message. He smirked coldly at Percy. The slightest hint of elation was in his eyes before he walked away. 

*

"You did?" Percy asked Alabaster as they went out of the arena to rest for the night. Campfires and monsters drinking the night away were all around. Most monsters had already left the arena but quite a few stayed to hold an all-nighter fight among themselves. Nico di Angelo was nowhere to be found, but Alabaster whispered he knew- they just had to go somewhere and it was important. 

"I did, Earl," he replied. His face was like a blank piece of paper, empty of emotions. Whenever they passed a merry group of monsters, Alabaster nodded at them. "Maybe we should do something about your voice, make it more like a monster's."

He groaned. Not this again.

Alabaster read through the face he was making. "Jeez. We have to, okay? Do you want to be taken or not?"

"Of course not!"

"So we've struck an agreement, yeah?" Percy nodded. "Anyway, we could see him again at dawn. The night's long, and we have to do the other side of our job." 

"What?" 

The boys stopped at the base of the Parthenon. Up close, the temple was worn out, the edges of the marble columns where intricate carved lines were had faded. Braziers lit up around the columns. Percy hadn't noticed how long it took them to climb a hill- one moment passed and they were right by the marble steps. 

"Why, guard duty, of course." Alabaster pulled two cards from his pocket, drew helmets, and tapped the cards. The helmets appeared, and Alabaster gave him the other. "If we're lucky, the other inside guards would give us the inner spots on rotation."

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**BY DAWN, PERCY GLIMPSED NICO** from the west side of the gleaming temple, still in his getup last night- a black sleeveless top, black jeans, and leather boots. (Okay, he wasn't sure about the footwear; Nico looked roughly the size of his forefinger up here.) He roamed around the open field towards the grand coliseum, the fight yesterday earning him an astonishing large entourage full of turncloak monsters. From this height, Percy wasn't sure if Nico was giving them two cents of his attention. He probably didn't.

"Come on." Alabaster started pushing him down the steps. Each step was reluctant for Percy- he wanted to stay some more, eavesdrop on the Giants in the inner chambers. "Time to sleep."

They'd gotten the inner chambers for guard duty, and managed to send a recording to the Olympians. It was all Alabaster's doing. Percy distracted the other guards around by scaring the Hades out of them with his daimon form. Dawn came in blood-red hues, and Percy's head spun with nothingness. August 16. Two more days until doomsday, and Percy didn't know where Annabeth or his other friends were. There were no mentions of them in the meeting. Only that the grand events must happen no matter what, and something about crafting the most dangerous monster after the Pit's rise... That certain bit gave Percy the chills on his back.

"The events would start at eight," Alabaster reminded him. "You could sleep for two hours in the stronghold."

Percy followed his gaze, looking at the only pitch black tent not so far from the Parthenon's base. The structure stood in the middle of an intersection, protected by numerous rocky outcrops made of sharp obsidian. The area was cleared of monsters.

"I'll be scouting." He removed his helmet, cinching the item in his arm. "Have to make the Giants happy with my service." Alabaster jogged off to the other side of the Acropolis, occasionally dodging monsters who playfully attacked him with maces and swords. Percy shook his head, and willed himself to walk towards Alabaster's stronghold.

Along the way, the monsters snickered at him. There were sudden attacks coming from all directions, several of them and sometimes a team of five charging all at once at him. Percy swatted them away with his custom sword in a maximum of fifteen moves. "He could defeat us in a single blow," one of the monsters bellowed from the mob, "but he couldn't defeat the prisoner?"

Percy didn't take the bait. It wouldn't help him getting more strength for later. He could only go forward, placing one foot in front of the other. Once he passed the obsidian spikes, the world vanished around him. He started falling, so sudden his voice got lost in oblivion, but not too long.

He hit solid ground, heard the clanking of his armor. Rolling to his back, Percy groaned, mentally checking if he had any injuries. Four limbs still intact- good. Head or face not bleeding- great. Above him was the bruised sky- black and blue, the horizon only a faint white. Tents were all around and so were people dressed in Ancient Greek garb...

Percy saw the pitch black tent at left side, looming but a homely sight. He realized that he was back at Olympus.

"Percy!" Leo was running towards him, coming from his right side. The son of Hephaestus helped him to get up from the metal ground, and just then did he notice his human arms were back.

"Hey," he croaked. Vertigo drew him in a state of daze, but he forced the dizziness back. "Can I sleep for the meantime?"

"Sure, sure." Leo turned to the Olympus-born people. "Can someone please get us a featherbed, thank you."

A group instantly ran towards the large tent at the distance- probably to inform the gods that he's here. Having nowhere to go and a tent that could host fifteen or so people (well, gods actually), Leo and a few men helped Percy to his feet, leading themselves to Alabaster's dark tent. Instead of a chair and a table topped with a glowing sphere and laced tablecloth, there was a sea-themed queen-size bed and a nearby wooden chair and a gilded desk. The orbs lining the whole tent from the inside lit up in a warm blue hue, giving the impression of lights under the sea. Two nightstands with the emblem of Poseidon stood by the bed's edge.

Leo grinned at him. "They've got your best interests at hand."

Percy crashed on it, feeling much better in the comfort of fluffy pillows. "Alabaster seems like a god," he said after a while. "He could do whatever he wants with his power. He could even get those Giants to believe every word he's spouting."

"Strongest of Hecate's blood, remember?"

"Still."

"I get it, I get it." He paused for a moment. "What happened there? Who did you see?"

Percy told him everything: the fight with Nico, Nico knowing that it was him but only behind a horrible guise, and the talk with the Giants. He heard several taps and short pauses- it must be Leo doing his Morse code words over the desk.

"We heard that just a few minutes ago," he said after Percy was done. "Alabaster had added that he'll check out their defenses, see if he could spot a chink or two while searching Annabeth's chambers."

"I feel like a nobody," Percy admitted, his voice slurred because of the pillow on his face. "There were too many of them. I don't know where our friends are."

"You're still an important person, Perce. You're fighting in the front line, you're helping Alabaster, and I'm not."

He heaved a dejected sigh. "You're safe. I don't feel that way out there." Percy wanted to throw his hands up, if only he wasn't that sleepy and those monsters hadn't sapped the last of his energy from guard duty. "I could barely keep my calm."

Leo laughed. "Demigods don't do calm."

That got a little laugh from Percy. "Let me get my sleep now. I'm bound to leave in two hours."

"How would you go back?"

Percy shook his head. "Guess we'll have to figure out something..."

He drifted off to sleep before he had finished his sentence. When Percy opened his eyes, he expected to see himself surrounded by the gods and Leo and Calypso, the warm lights, his fluffy pillow. What he saw was Annabeth's chamber that seem to be in the middle of nowhere. It was still dark, but the place had a rotten smell to it, like mold and snakeskin. The spotlights provided a bit of the place's interior- the low ceiling, and the ground had fissures on its surface...

Percy recognized the place- the temple to both Poseidon and Athena. The tunnel at the far end with a patch of mold as big as him led to the harbors of Piraeus. He had gone there before the war. How ironic. Percy found himself here for the second time. Could it be that his last kiss with Annabeth was taken here? When did Hecate's trick of making him believe that the Giants' War was true and not a mummer's show had started? Was it here, too?

Annabeth was still tied to the cross, her body now cleared from any wounds. Percy recognized the direction where she was placed, the same direction where she had assumed where the Parthenon was. Gaea must have twisted their lives in the Mist so everything was a big joke and she could laugh all she wanted. Percy shuddered, looking at Annabeth's serene face. She wore a white Greek chlamys, fluttering in some breeze that Percy couldn't feel.

She looked beautiful, but Percy wished she wasn't tied like that. It reminded him of Andromeda when she was about to be sacrificed to the kraken. His stomach turned at the word. Sacrifice. They meant to sacrifice her-

"She is ready, Earth Mother," said a gruff female voice. Percy turned and saw one of the Giants back at the (fake) Giant War- the one Piper had faced.

"You clean up nicely for a Giantess, Periboia," Gaea answered, her voice scattered throughout the ground. "You have my thanks."

The Giantess bowed, then left the chamber to stroll wherever. Once she was out of sight, the ground shook. The uneven ground became more uneven, then a shape started to form from the sand and rocks that gathered before Annabeth's position. Gaea rose from the sand, ethereal in her sand-colored chlamys and sandals. Her hair was styled in a high ponytail- kind of like Pasiphae's and glittered with every gem to exist. She was walking towards Annabeth. Percy couldn't move his feet, his heart slowing down as if he was about to die.

"Once, you had spilled your blood for me," she whispered, her right hand caressing Annabeth's sleepy face, "but that was a lie so all of you would believe that everything's at your side at the end of the day." She laughed softly, then her grip on Annabeth's chin tightened. Percy didn't see his girlfriend stir from the Earth Mother's touch. "Now, you will spill your life for me and my husband. You, and Percy Jackson."

Percy started to sink, and as he did, he saw the rest of the Seven in fast images: Jason, Frank, and Reyna stuck in a cell, bleeding; Hazel mumbling something, her gold eyes glassy and empty; Piper screaming behind a cell with close doors, monsters hollering with her. Percy shuddered, wanting to know where they were exactly so he could save them-

He fell faster and when he looked below, he saw Gaea, waiting, her arms raised as if to catch him. "Come to me, Percy," she called, smiling. Her grin morphed into a hungrier, more savage one. "Come and live for me!"

Percy screamed.

Gaea jumped to meet him halfway, transforming into a hag that seemed familiar but not at the same time- her eyes red, her fingers reaching out, lengthening into sharp talons that tore his face- He shot up from bed, his body colder. He was back at Alabaster's tent, and the gods stared at him with wary faces.

Leo was at the foot of his bed, checking a nondescript pocketwatch. "Time check: 7:45 in the morning. Alabaster said I should check... Anyway." He watched Percy with a concerned gleam in his brown eyes. "You okay?"

Percy buried his face in the pillow. "Styx, no." 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**POSEIDON INSISTED ON HANGING AROUND** a protective cover so Percy's wounds would heal faster, but the gods disapproved at that. The rest of the gods left after the brief planning of an assault at Piraeus and Erectheion. Most gave him messages of encouragement, even Ares who said he'll just pulverize Percy when the war was truly done for. All who were left were Percy's father and Hades. While Leo decked out to call Percy's family, Hades gave him a few pointers on how to use Underworldly powers, being an Underworld daimon and all that. Surprisingly, when Percy willed himself to turn into a daimon (one of the ring's abilities) and use those powers Hades had spoke of, it worked. He suddenly had new tricks up his sleeves. But would he have the pleasure of time on his side?

And while the god was busying himself from teaching Percy how to play dead, Percy blurted out, "I saw Nico last night."

Hades stopped short from his lecture, his face softer than his usual uptight and gloomy facade. "H-how is he," he stuttered.

Percy felt a needle poke on his spine. "He's fine, he looks... well-enough. Lithe, I guess you could call it. He's a lot faster in battle, too. He defeated me in an arena fight, but he recognized me as a daimon first before hearing my voice." He fidgeted. "We had to feign hatred against each other so-"

"Yes. I know you have to do that." Hades gave him a hand and Percy accepted it. Despite his hand being cold, Percy felt a surge of reassurance. The demigod wondered if he and Nico could talk sometime, tell him. "Go. And win."

Percy nodded, grim. "I will."

Before he left, his family gave him a what was supposed to be a happy send-off. Poseidon hugged him without much words between them; just tears and unspoken words. In the end, they both settled in a whispered, 'I love you' and 'Take care.' Tyson nearly broke his ribs in a hug, but he'd not trade his half-brother's affection for anything else. Sally and Paul both fussed on his clothes and hair before Percy told them that his daimon looks made him look and feel better. Jokingly, of course. "Always take care, Percy." Sally hugged him, tight, and Percy didn't want to think this would be the last hug he'll ever get from his mom.

But Chaos' plan said otherwise. "I will," he said for the second time.

By the time Percy was ready, Alabaster was already standing by the tent's outside space. "You'll be late," he reminded him. "And don't bother bathing; monsters don't do that."

"And I'm still wondering how they could track a half-blood's smell if they smell a lot worse," Percy grumbled. "They'd probably smell the sea on me, wouldn't they?" Alabaster nodded.

"So." Poseidon coughed. "I'd like to know... something, Alabaster."

He straightened in his position. "What is it, sir."

"What's that ring on my son's finger?" Poseidon asked. "I don't recognize the runes, but they seem to be the ones used in the Golden Age. And the symbol-"

"-was of Chaos, sir," Alabaster supplied, his head bowed. "It is a necessary accessory for Lord Chaos to see our progress."

My last resort, in fact, Percy thought, but he'd rather keep that fact as much as Alabaster and Leo does. Leo was nowhere to be seen, probably to avoid the gods from their questions.

_"No one must know," Percy had pleaded to his companions when they were going back. "No one but us three and Chaos. Got it?"_

"Dad," Percy called. "Help us, please."

Poseidon still looked wary at Alabaster, but he nodded. "I'll send Triton for ranging. The rest of the deities could do their jobs without him anyway. We'll secure the way for you, Percy."

A big lump of fear seemed to melt in his ribcage. "We still have to find the others," Percy mused. "I'll try my best to keep watch." _I want to save them before the end._

"Take care, son," Poseidon said. Percy took a deep breath. "Good luck to us all."

Percy and Alabaster crossed the tent as if they were going in again, and then Percy felt his world go upside down. Then he was emerging from the tent facing the Parthenon, like he had really slept in the tent in the first place. Outside, a large rank of monsters filled up the spaces between the outcrops and the tent's entrance. They were lined in ten columns, standing in a perfunctory stance. Percy bit his lip, hoping that he did look like a daimon and he hadn't turned the form down. A glance on his arms told him that his guise was working.

"Good morning, I guess?" Silence answered him.

"Hey," Alabaster prodded at the monster army. "He said 'good morning.' Greet him back."

"Good morning, Earl," they said in unison.

"You look good today, Earl," an empousa up front said. "The red eyes look so much like mine... Can we date?"

"No," Percy said quickly. He knew a thing or two about empousai, and everyone else told him to be careful. As a group, they stormed the coliseum. Percy was in the middle of a monster crowd, protected by Alabaster's second and third-in-command- both ghouls with malicious red eyes and misshapen, toothy grins.

Somewhere in the middle of the walk, Alabaster's entourage crossed with Nico's, and like old friends they went inside together. Percy had no choice but to follow behind the merging entourage, and the new lines of monsters pushed him even farther at the back. The smell nearly tore his insides out, but he managed not to choke on his oxygen. When he emerged into the arena proper, the fights were in full swing. Every other second a new winner was hailed. The arena was full of monster life that the sounds alone could burst Percy's eardrums to bloody pieces. Unlike yesterday, Percy- or better yet, Earl the Weakly Daimon- and Nico and Alabaster sat on the lowest level of bleachers. Most of Alabaster's followers sat around them, closer to the emperor's booth, taking no part in the cheering. Most of them claimed that they'd like to yell in battle, not on the safety of the concession stands.

From eight to twelve was the fighting of greater clans and monster warriors, winners from the year-long gladiator contest. The main events, consisting of Percy's friends, would happen on after lunch and until night, depending on how long each fight would be. The fights would continue until tomorrow, and maybe until the eighteenth. The fights went on, most brawls lasting for only ten seconds. The tier levels filled up so fast, and within the first hour, the two hundred and so contestants were down to twenty-five. Between the twenty-five finalists, the judges put up a new level system. That alone took quite some time- a thirty-minute gap- and then the games resumed.

For an additional two hours, Percy sat his butt on the rocky, unpolished stone. He watched the fights, somehow amazed on some of the fighters and their fighting skills. Those who are actually good at fighting with a sword made him interested, but soon, his interest started to wan. His butt ached and itched; he was sure that sores were about to form if he sat any longer, so he asked Alabaster if he could leave. The latter gave him permission, and the fiery empousa (one of the rare, goody-two shoed empousai) beside him gave him a mind-bending grin.

"Wait, wait, wait!" The announcer shouted, sudden.

The two contestants below froze, but the momentum of a spiked mace wasn't so easy to stop. The one who held the mace- a gruff Laistrygonian that seemed like a dwarf monkey- hit the dog-headed man's torso. The force cut the cynocephalus in half, throwing the upper part to the bleachers by the north, while the lower dropped like a sack of rocks to the ground. Blood spilled and splattered, bright and glittering among the sand.

"Oops," Percy heard the monster mutter. The whole arena bursted into laughter, screaming the winner's name with gusto. Percy didn't care. He looked at where the upper body had landed, and saw a group of gray-skinned ghouls relishing in the flesh. So, Percy thought, his stomach turning. Monsters don't dissolve when they die. They become a morsel for others. The fact was too abhorrent to ignore.

"Ahem, ahem!" The announcer bubbled again in the mike. "There's an interesting twist to our battles today!"

The monsters cheered some more. At the back of his mind, Percy wondered where they got the vocal cords for that. They seemed to be shouting day and night.

"What about me?" the Laistrygonian shouted, looking at the ceiling. "You win, yes, and you're already listed!" The announcer paused for a moment.

"Anyway, the twist is that, the judges will select three contestants from the crowds right now who will all participate in the big event tomorrow evening! How does that sound?"


	14. Chapter 14

**"BRING IT ON!" THE MONSTERS** shouted as one.

"Okay, okay! The judges will be talking about it, so please wait for another moment!"

"Aww!"

"A short break ensues! Please make use of the time to relieve yourselves."

A few monster clans left the bleachers, grumbling under their breaths. Alabaster ordered that everyone will stay, including Percy. If he actually left, he wouldn't have seen the best opportunity to come in his monster life.

Five figures emerged from the ground entrances of the ring, and they all cleaned the mess that the last contestant (and a few others) had made. They all wore a gray cloak, their faces hidden beneath the shadow of their hood. A slight breeze passed and the hood of one of the figures took off.

Percy nearly jumped from his seat. It was Jason- that blond hair, square glasses, his tattered Camp Jupiter shirt...

Jason pulled his hood up on his head again, hiding. He cleared the blood and entrails of the dog-headed warrior. Percy's friends, so close and yet so far from his reach.

"We're excited to see you die!" a monster shouted at the cleaners.

They said nothing as they started to leave as a group. They were heading by the exit right under the emperor's booth. Somewhere at the east, a bronze shield flew out and nearly one of the five cloaked demigods was hit in the head. Percy glimpsed a face when the figure did a backflip with a single hand.

Hazel.

The bronze shield landed a few meters closer to the arena's edge. Hazel pulled her hood up like Jason, but not before glaring at the direction of the shield thrower. The monsters hollered, apparently given a new idea. They started throwing the nearest thing with them- spears, lances, javelins, shields, and at one point, the weakest of monstes in each 'clan' were thrown in the ring as well.

Percy's friends avoided each hit, but they were forced to move back to the center and remove their cloaks so they could move freely. The son of Poseidon sucked in a breath. They all looked different: faces drawn, eyes beady and calculating, but the fights had shaped them much better than any exercise. The five pulled their swords out, save for Frank who held a longbow and Piper who held her dagger.

"You want to go there?" Alabaster asked him, not passing a single glance as he did.

Percy wanted, so much. His brows twitched.

"Don't worry," he assured. "I'll keep you covered. Just move around with your sword."

As if reading Alabaster's mind, the monsters parted for Percy. The way down ended in a big space right in front of Jason Grace.

Percy ran over the steps, and at the ledge, he jumped. The monsters in Alabaster's team broke their usual motto once they saw Percy pull his twisted, hunched form make a firm stance. They all cheered, screaming his fake name.

Jason looked back at his friends, then at him. Percy remembered he was a daimon, and Jason saw him as a daimon and definitely not anywhere like Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon.

Percy charged so fast his feet seemed to glide over the sandy ground. He opened his mouth into a scream; for effects, of course.

"Look!" a monster jeered. "Earl's trying to earn his reputation from last night!"

Percy paid no mind, focusing on Jason and how he could get a few words across without the monsters getting suspicious of him. Jason gave him a decent fight, always blocking and putting up deathly stabs at Percy when the chances opened for him. The monsters hollered, some still worked up on throwing objects at Hazel, Frank, Piper and Reyna.

Percy decided to jump, flying over Jason with his momentum placed on the sword. Then Jason blocked the slash with two hands on the hilt of his gladius, the veins in his neck pronounced from the effort. He was working up a sweat and so was Percy.

"Jason," Percy whispered. "Remember me, bro?"

"Percy," he muttered so low Percy wasn't sure if he heard him right. Then Jason's sky blue eyes narrowed, a subtle nod following. "Die, you monster!"

Percy backed up, hiding a smile to himself.

"A little assist?" Jason asked to the rest of the original Seven and Reyna. Percy put a distance between them, and his friends formed a wide semicircle. He saw Frank notching two arrows on his longbow and aimed those arrows at him.

The son of Poseidon remembered that Frank was scary good with arrows- not like the Hunters kind of good, still-

"I heard he lost a fight with my brother," Hazel said, eyeing him with pale golden eyes.

"I did," Percy agreed, smiling wide. Remember that you're a daimon, and a daimon's smile is as pretty as a vampire baring fangs. "I wasn't in condition at that time."

The rest didn't wait- they all charged, their shadows suddenly lengthening towards him. Frank fired his arrows- Percy dodged them at the last millisecond. Time seemed to slow just then, every action spanning a lifetime before Percy's eyes. Percy stepped on the shadow, and let himself be dissolved. He emerged at their backs, specifically behind Reyna, and Percy hooked his free arm (left) around Reyna's neck. The rest gasped, putting their weapons at the ready. Percy dragged the praetor close, and in the ensuing chaos, he spoke, "Don't come close." His voice changed into a crackle of onion paper, or something like those old elves in Lord of the Rings. "Or I will kill her before the Pankration."

"Stop right there, Nightwing sir!" The announcer said. "No killing of the valuables!"

A majority of the monsters yelled, "Yeah, right!"

Percy released Reyna from his choke hold, kicking her for good measure. Jason was murmuring something to the others, and Percy hoped it looked like they were planning out some cold-blooded revenge for him. Reyna glared at him, oblivious.

"-what you want," the announcer was saying. "Anything but killing them!"

"I want to be in the main events," Percy demanded, shouting to the ceiling. The monsters snickered, some actually cheered for his amazingly stupid bravado.

"Alright, alright. But the judges are- Oh, what? Okay! Good news, Earl Nightwing! The Giants are interested by what you just did, boldly fighting the top prisoners despite being nearly bested yesterday."

They sure do, Percy thought, keeping a straight face.

"So you're in!" Percy grinned at the announcement. "And so are these... whatevers!"

"Whatevers?" A dracaenae somewhere hissed.

"Geryon and Kelli! And- Newsflash! Oh, this is going to be really exciting! Our honorable guest joins us. It's the Titan of the East, Hyperion!"

Percy's grin wavered slightly, but he kept the act. The ones he hated with every fiber of his being will be the ones he's going to fight. Just great.

"So, rules for the lucky ones!" The monsters quieted, much to Percy's surprise. "The four of you will fight in a one-on-one battle, with the pairs chosen by the Giants themselves, and whoever wins gets to advance!"

"What happens when a sole winner is hailed from us?" Percy shouted with his crackly voice.

"He will join the Giants in the greatest fight of the century, right on the night before the Heart's Feast!"

More roars resounded, monsters pounding their weapons and armors. Percy seemed to swallow a marble, hearing the dracaenae hissing, "The rise of Tartarus, the Great Father."

"And this ends our tourney!" The announcer shouted. "The Grand Gladiator Games will commence at-"

"Why don't we start right now?" Geryon came down from the bleachers, flexing his arms and his three chests.

Alabaster and his monster horde got down the arena through the bleachers, not giving a single damn if they actually ruined a long line of seats or no. Percy's friends scurried away at the sight of them, toning down their glares at the half-blood leader. They might've known about Alabaster before he did, he realized. After all, the games and this trickery had happened for a year or so now.

Alabaster, the Betrayer of Olympus, working with a Percy Jackson, Hero of Olympus? Unbelievable.

Maybe the gods had seen this moment coming, the moment where Percy realizes how ironic their combination was, and how every odd ends would turn into the advantage of Olympus.

"Excited to get laid by our swords, monster?" Alabaster said to him, his eyes leveled.

Geryon's face reddened. "Who do you think you are, huh?"

"You heard the judges: the tourney's over for today."

"Do I look like I care?" He charged at Percy/Earl, a thick double-bladed sword suddenly at his disposal. Percy made a mistake of shielding himself with his left arm.

Geryon's sword cut through half of Percy's left arm.

Percy screamed in pain, blood gushing out in heaps. Monsters don't bleed, do they? To his ears, his screams sounded like a dying chicken. The crowd didn't look like they were about to leave soon. But Geryon wasn't yet contented, swinging the sword with his hand as if it was a baton.

"What should I cut next, Earl?" he asked, grinning. Percy's eyes dimmed.

"Maybe your own head," said Alabaster, who was suddenly right behind Geryon. "Oh, wait. I think I won't need your head anymore."

Blood gushed out horizontally from Geryon's chest, and soon, the top half of his chest and his head slid off from the rest. Percy realized with a start that Alabaster cut all his three hearts in half.

"Well that's rather unfortunate!" The announcer babbled.

Unfortunate indeed, but Percy wondered who was more unfortunate between them.

 


	15. Chapter 15

**"I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT," PERCY** confessed before the monster horde. "And especially thatbit about Hyperion." His dinner looked scrumptious enough (more roasted turkey, yay) but he couldn't get himself to eat, not with the recent news. Hyperion's name was enough to make his stomach turn. And the sight of his slowly reforming left arm, of course.

"Last I heard, he was..." He bit his lip, trying to say something that wouldn't give him away. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure he was still in Tartarus to heal from the Second Titan's war?"

The tent didn't teleport Percy and Alabaster this time, and now hosted a big dinner with three, fifteen-feet long tables that somehow fitted in the premises. All the monsters had filled up the tables, and there are more monsters partying and drinking outside. Alabaster told him he had about a thousand strong men, monsters and demigods alike, and he had no problem managing it, thanks to his mother's most trusted disciples.

One of them was Maine, an empousa sitting uncomfortably close to him. Her donkey leg practically wrapped around Percy's lower leg. If Annabeth was here, she was going to kill the empousa first before him.

"He just came around, perhaps," Alabaster mused, barely looking at the roasted turkey leg on his plate. "After all, the announcer said he was a guest."

Most monsters agreed.

"My birds said he was in the vanguard finding that Perseus Jackson." The ghoul across Percy, Marin Fay, belched. His mouth was blood-red, thanks to some unclaimed demigod who had been turned into a slave. It's not like you could do something, the miser chimed as Percy watched the ghoul and his treat.

"And believe me, great sire," Marin continued, fangs bared. "My little birds never lie."

Percy saw Alabaster nod, perhaps considering a thought or two while he was at it.

"Okay," the ghoul coughed, "since our somewhat prized fighter here-"

"Wait, somewhat?" Percy interrupted at the ghoul.

"-had been chosen, as per tradition of the games, he gets to see the dungeon and pick up his band of two!"

The monster roared their approval. Percy tried not to wince at his already aching ears.

"Band of two?" Percy asked when they've toned down the noise.

"Two extra companions," Alabaster explained. "Most contestants don't pick up extra limbs in a fight, but that's exactly how clans form here. And you know all these creatures- they have pride about their rears so they don't hire additional bodies if they could help it."

They all laughed; even Percy joined in the fun.

"Who knows," Alabaster grinned, "you might form your own gladiatorial line up two days from the Feast."

Ah, just brilliant. Percy found himself grinning at the very idea of going down a dungeon, which was definitely one of the most mind-blowing thoughts of all ages.

"I will choose wisely, Alabaster."

"Sure you will."

"But are there any restrictions?"

"Just make sure you could get along with them."

I will, very much.

The red eyes of the empousa beside Percy glittered. She held Percy's daimon hands, and the latter felt a surge of static racing on his arms. "You could always choose one or two from our horde, Earl."

Percy gently removed her hand, flashing that grotesque smile. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I've already made up my mind."

So they went in the dungeon, exactly twenty minutes before six in the evening. The monsters were in a good mood, and unlike yesterday night, most of the other clans treated him nice. Some offered to share meat and mead with him, but Percy kindly refused.

"Maybe at the Heart's Feast," Percy said, smiling.

"We'll be waiting, Earl!" was their answer. Percy felt his own heart soar, knowing what was about to come.

It's your own destruction, the miser lilted again, and yet you are happy? Percy even heard the miser laugh, the voice vaguely a male or a female. Athena was right after all.

Hades, she is.

Day check: August 16. Two days before doomsday, and a day before his suicidal plan. Well, Alabaster, too but mostly the plan would fill Percy's credits, still. And, look- he had twenty minutes to relay his plan out. If he and Alabaster could do less than ten minutes, then that was a miracle.

And trailing behind them, among the monsters milling from one cell to the other, was Nico. Percy had no idea why he was there- well, except for visiting their friends but really, the three of them in the same area of the dungeon seems like enough grounds for suspicion. And who knows which among these misshapen faces of all sizes were the extra eyes of Gaea...

"So many... beings in here," Percy noted, looking around. Every cell had a maximum of seven figures basking in the dark, and there are about ten times the number of visitors. The son of Poseidon couldn't dismiss the fact that there were bones twice the number of prisoners piling at the corner of each cell. They rounded a corner and entered a long hall.

"Visitation and all." He sighed, and for some reason his breath actually steamed. "Monsters or no, enemies or allies, friends are friends and blood is blood."

"You speak like they actually deserve to live and all," he blurted.

Alabaster shrugged. "I'm just speaking from experience. Anyway, if you do something out of the ordinary, like slaughtering monsters in and out of arena for no particular reason, you get a spot here."

"I think I now know the offense most often committed."

"If you displease the Giants and Gaea," he continued, "you'll be tortured at the arena and if you're still alive, they'll starve you to death here. If you were caught on conspiracy against the Giants, you'll go down the thirteenth floor and see hell for yourself. POWs go there, too, but if they don't see that you're worth a small bread and a glass of water, you'll be their food."

"They don't like any lifeforms going to waste, huh."

"Hell if they do. See those halls branching from this main hall?" He pointed. "Those areas contain more cells. The levels go downward, too. All in all, there are thirteen levels and one-thousand-three-hundred-and-thirteen cells. Oh, look; here's the lift."

They'd arrived at the end of the hall, unbeknownst to Percy. The metal gate was closed, and the gaps let him see the vertical tunnel going down and the thick cords that lift the lift up. He could hear the faint whirring of gears below. After maybe a million years of waiting, the lift arrived, creaking and slightly swaying. It looked like a square, wooden raft with a metal casing at the back for the cables, and nothing more. The boys stepped aside to let the other monsters unload themselves from the rising metal gate, then they entered with a small group of Earthborn.

Before the metal gates closed, Percy glimpsed Nico bounding for one of the halls by the left.

The way down was silent, mostly because the monsters around him dampened the soaring moment that Percy had about thirty minutes ago. Alabaster kept to himself at the back, assuming his normal brooding look. Percy could only imagine what he was thinking- the logic behind each step they took, and will take in the near future.

Most monsters unloaded by the fifth underground level, and by the time the boys reached the tenth, not only were they breathing hard but they were also alone.

"Great," Percy wheezed as they continued their descent, which suddenly felt a lot faster now. The silence around him made Percy think that everyone but them were actually dead. The cold made Percy wary of his guise for some reason, as if the right temperature would freeze the Mist around him and the sudden heat from the upper floors would melt it fast. "How far?"

"We're heading for the thirteenth," he answered, teeth chattering. "That's where your friends are, and there are numerous passages around-"

The lift stopped. The metal gates opened, but they didn't wait. They crouched and roll to the thirteenth level's even and concrete floor. After a few second, the lift started to ascend.

The hall surprised Percy. There were no extra halls branching off, and there were real, modern-style doors (fourteen in total, seven at the left and seven at the right) and industrial lights hanging on the ceiling- soaring three feet above Percy's head. It was like seeing a dormitory hall but in a smaller scale.

An even more surprising thing happened. At the end of the hall which was initially a dead end, suddenly had a nondescript black door.

"I don't like doors that suddenly appear at my face," Percy muttered, backing up a little. Alabaster shushed him.

Then the black door swung towards the boys, and he sucked in a breath.

Nico, Hazel, Reyna came out first, followed by Jason, Piper, and Frank. And they all looked like they were expecting Percy- no, Earl the Daimon- in that very hall.

"Want to join the club?" Jason asked, his smile still a little wary.

"I have a better one in mind," Percy replied, taking off his ring and letting the Mist curl out of his skin.

 


	16. Chapter 16

**PERCY CHOSE TO SLEEP IN** Olympus before the impending apocalypse. Alabaster let him when every monster in his army had finally left to rest. He even went as far as escorting him there. At least he could get a nice sleep after the Talk, the almost walk-to-the-gallows, and the eight half-bloods (including him) finalizing a so-called plan, right?

The Underworld might have crumbled already if he did get a nice, happily ever after dream.

Once he closed his eyes, he felt like was some son of Hypnos, drowning in an empty sea of dreams and walking through one endless hall after another. After what felt like a millenium, he'd rounded a hall and found the first door.

He wished he hadn't opened the door instead, or turn back the way he'd come.

He emerged at Annabeth's chamber again, but the dais was empty.

"We're too late," someone whispered. Percy turned, then saw the form of his godly half-brother, Triton. He was dressed in normal clothes, a conch shell on hand. Flanked beside him were numerous mermen, and they all started searching.

The scene changed in a blink of his eye. He was standing on the top of the Parthenon, looking at a raging battle. He recognized the gods and Alabaster's forces fighting in the melee, working their way up the hill. The monsters stood no ground against Ares and his sons. Lightning flashed every now and then, they all rose in the air.

The Parthenon shook, and then Percy saw something emerge from the gaps between the enermous marble columns. The thing was shrouded in shadows, snarling and making a horrible sound of a hundred jaws snapping. Percy's legs wobbled. The gods seemed to hesitate, then headed towards the monster, now with the demigods standing beside them in their chariots.

Beside Poseidon was not Percy. Beside Poseidon was no one.

Percy then saw himself standing in the corner of a foreign room, with a fireplace made of red bricks. The fire crackled to life, lighted the room up. Percy saw a couple of paintings hung across the cream-colored walls, velvet couches surrounding a long coffee table and facing the fireplace. Curtains were drawn, covering the windows.

What is this place... He wondered. It felt like he was back the Big House's living room, but there was no Seymour, no vines hanging across the ceiling.

The door swung inward, and the half-bloods he'd shared memories with entered. There was Jason, his arm around Piper's waist. Hazel and Frank were next to enter, hands linked, sad smiles gracing their faces. Leo and Calypso followed, heads hung low and whispering. Nico, Reyna, Thalia, and Annabeth entered next. They were all dressed in black. Percy almost failed in recognizing them- they were a lot older, their faces more adult-like.

Except for Thalia. And Annabeth.

Was he... seeing a fragment of his future?

They all took their respective seats on the couches. Reyna offered hers to Annabeth, but the latter refused. She insisted sitting by the fire, twisting a silver ring o km her left ring finger.

They were silent until Annabeth said in a hoarse voice, "It's been nine long years."

"Time goes fast, sometimes too slow," Reyna agreed. Then she seemed to look straight at Percy's face and yet she seemed not to. Her eyes were full of sadness. "Percy did what he did to save us all."

Tears fell with abandon. Somehow, he heard the Fates whisper in his ears: It is written. It cannot be prevented.

His eyes opened, slow. It was the most peaceful wake-up he'd had. Ever. Realization dawned on Percy: the things he had to do, the things that must happen. He twisted the black ring on his finger, seeking reassurance from the cold surface and the engraved runes that he couldn't read. Then he remembered the orb Iris had given him.

Maybe there was another way.

Percy touched his cheeks, and there were dried tears. Feeling even more defeated despite the fights still not starting, he wiped his face before finding Leo outside. The orbs looked dormant, and Percy looked at the surface. His daimon face stared back at him.

Earl, I'll miss you. Percy chuckled to himself, finding amusement at the thought. I just hope I won't get to Tartarus because of you.

"Oh, hey," Leo greeted, peeking inside. His face looked funny on the orb's surface. "You're up this early?"

Percy raised an eyebrow at him. "Early?"

"It's one a.m.." His smile looked rather sad. "Some dream?"

"Sort of." He pocketed his hands.

"You really don't have to do what Chaos said you should," Leo blurted.

"I should. The Fates told me so."

"Percy, no."

The daimon face looked genuinely sad, too. "Can I just- have the orb please?"

"The one in the- Oh, okay." Leo was nodding, but he looked pretty hurt from Percy changing the subject. "Might take me a while to find it, what, with the clutter of my workshop. Want to talk with the gods for the meantime?"

He considered that. "Do you have Nike?"

"I don't know where she went," Leo admitted. "Don't know if we actually found her because Gaea messed us real bad."

"Right you are. We did say that Adidas was better than Nike before so maybe...-"

"WHO DARES SAY THAT?" someone shouted outside. Then the goddess in her golden plumage and golden dress and golden everything tore the tent flap to pieces. She glared at the boys, and Percy welcomed the glare. "WHO?"

"There she is," they both deadpanned, stifling a laugh.

Day check: August 17. The suicidal plan commences today, or maybe tonight. Percy couldn't figure out when exactly he was going to do what he had to do. After all, he and the rest of the secret team had no agreement on any time frame.

Or maybe, the Fates would've spun something else. Another fate for him, the one that doesn't require his death. But, alas, that was pretty impossible.

Because Percy woke up way too early and couldn't get back to sleep, he went back to the Acropolis and joined Alabaster in his guard duty. The rotations went on, and so did the 'good luck's from other monsters, and soon, they were guarding the inner chambers again.

The doors and the walls looked awfully tall, extensions of the Acropolis and the Parthenon, made for the convenience of Giants and when other deities choose to get half the height of the Statue of Liberty. What surprised Percy when he first got a look at the inside were the intricate carvings on the surfaces. It didn't seem like the monsters made it.

"So what's that?" Alabaster pointed at the orb resting on Percy's lap.

"A gift from a special person," he lied, giving the orb for Alabaster to see it closely. "Really childish of her to give this to me."

He rotated the orb in his hands, then he peered at the circular glass. "I don't know what this little peephole is for."

"My friend said that there's a little card inside-"

"Oh." His eyes were wide at a moment, then he was squinting at whatever he saw.

"What...?"

Alabaster tapped the orb. "Look."

He did. He felt a shudder go through his body, his mind suddenly blank...

_"Distract them with alarms," Percy remembered Alabaster suggesting that to the Olympians before they left in the morning of August 16. "Let them know that someone from Olympus had arrived and have mixed within their ranks."_

_Percy left the ring for a moment on the floor, then picked it up after three seconds. They were in the thirteenth level of the dungeon, and Percy was right in front of his friends. "Now that's settled, let's get to Lord Chaos."_

 


	17. Chapter 17

_**THE ALARMS MADE HIM SHAKE** with fear as he and Alabaster headed for the black door. The other half-bloods have entered again. Alabaster closed the door behind them, and darkness resumed._

_"We're in the middle of nowhere now," the son of Hecate announced. Everyone else sighed in relief._

_"Are we safe?" Hazel said softly in the dark._

_"Yes. The alarms should make them busy for the meantime." Percy heard him huff. "They don't have any system when it came to security."_

_"No cameras," Percy guessed, "but they could detect when someone from Olympus had arrived?"_

_"They don't care much about technology, yes," Alabaster agreed. "First, they'll be calling every single monster and inspect them. That alone would take hours. When that's done, they'll be searching the perimeters, then the dungeons." Percy imagined him smiling. "By the time we're done, we're already back in the first level, kicking the crap out of the prisoners who wouldn't cooperate."_

_"What excuse do we have?"_

_"Tell you what, Percy; let's get this done first, maybe?"_

_"Okay."_

_"Someone please light the place up," Jason said._

_The whole place lit up on cue. They all shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness. Percy peeked under his raised left arm and saw Lord Chaos materialize from the pure white. Unlike the times he'd seen him, he was all white from head to toe. His hair was longer too, like a curtain of silk flowing past his waist._

_"If I had zero sense, I would've said you weren't Lord Chaos," Percy blurted out._

_"Please bring those arms to your sides," he said, his voice thin. The eerie voice acting that he did at their most recent encounter wasn't up, and Percy was glad for that. Percy had one less thing to be scared of. "It is not like I will hurt you."_

_They did._

_"So you're the Creator," Nico noted. Anxiety displayed itself in his dark eyes._

_Chaos nodded. "Just Lord Chaos would be fine, heroes."_

_"Percy said he had a plan of letting us escape," Reyna said._

_The son of Poseidon looked at her. "What, you don't believe me?"_

_"You don't think we don't get an idea of you sacrificing yourself just so we could live?"_

_"He does have a plan, and he needs all of your help," Chaos said, looking at them one by one. That stopped them cold. Even here, in the safety of Chaos' realm, Percy felt the weight of his decision. Then he remembered the orb back at Olympus- he had to look; maybe the orb would save him from the dangers in the future. Maybe the orb would tell him a different way of saving Annabeth and his friends._

_"Can't you help us?" Piper asked softly._

_"My personal intervention would be bad for everyone," he breathed. "I am mad at my daughter and my son, more so than I could say right now. Who knows what I would do once I appear on the earth. As much as I want them to stop, I couldn't destroy this world that I've created."_

_"You couldn't, or you wouldn't want to?" Frank said._

_He sighed. "A little of both, I'm afraid."_

_Jason cleared his throat, then looked at Percy. "So what's that plan, Percy?"_

_Percy eyes couldn't focus on their faces, so he looked at the floor instead. "I... I..."_

Percy swallowed a metaphorical marble, his mind finally back to its senses.

 _It is written_ , the Fates had whispered. And Percy knew they were saying the truth. He looked at the orb.

_Your destruction will save them all._

"I didn't really need a fourth opinion for my upcoming death," Percy admitted, frowning at the orb.

"Maybe it's not for you, you know," he chided. Alabaster took a card and inserted the orb inside. "I was the one who saw the message first."

"And you're not the one whom the Fates had whispered to," Percy shot back. There was no point in arguing. Death is death no matter which way you look. Then he remembered how he'd thought that the prophecy in the Titan's War was for him, and yet it turned out to be Luke's all along.

He chose this path. He chose this way. It will be him who take on everything, and every consequences that will come with his choice.

The ring itched on his fingers, and Percy felt the ring's weight now that there were only a few hours before-

Suddenly, the double doors in front of the boys swung open. Percy sucked in a breath, watching as the monster guards (mostly dracaenae, filing in two columns) drag Triton and the mermen Percy had seen back in his dream.

"We're too late," Percy remembered. His heart sunk, wondering where Gaea had taken the love of his life.

His half-brother fought through his chains, and every time he did, the two dracaenae at his sides jabbed him with their stun guns. The mermen were more cooperative, letting themselves be pulled by the monsters. Percy wasn't completely fooled, though- a murderous glint lit their vibrant blue eyes in the dim lights of hanging braziers.

The boys snapped out of their viewing fiesta, and opened the doors of the inner chamber.

As the entourage did a slow entrance, Percy managed to peek inside. What he saw for a few seconds made his eyes as wide as quarters.

Annabeth was right at the middle of the room, still tied to that accursed cross like she was some trophy worthy of being displayed. The entourage meekly avoided her, circling half the whole room to get a closer look at the Giants. By the walls the Giants were assembled on a throne with multiple levels, like that in Boreas' ice palace, but much, much larger so they could all fit. They all claimed a spot for themselves. Porphyrion sat on the highest level, high and mighty, his hair glittering with weapons. A staff of gold was in the grip of his right hand.

Porphyrion pointed at their direction. "Is that our little General I see?"

Alabaster stepped out of the door's shadow, and then he bowed. Was he looking, too? "It is, my Lord." He stood and gestured at Percy's direction. "My champion, great sires."

"I am Earl," he said, his daimon voice working. He bowed, showing fealty to them. "I am honored to glimpse the true victors of the war."

The Giants laughed, and it sounded like the earth shaking and snapping. The earth did tremble beneath his feet. "Ah, quite old-fashioned," Porphyrion noted. "I assume you've lived a long, long life. Daimons don't die until they are harmed, is that so?"

Percy kept his head down.

"You may come inside, both of you." The boys started walking inside. "After all, we need messengers to share this great news."

Percy mustered the courage to not look at Annabeth, focusing on the walls and the interior instead. There were no windows, ledges, or any holes where he could work himself in. The only entrance and exit was the door behind them.

If Percy's going to take a final stand, he might as well do it here.

"My Lords, we bring you these tasty prisonerssss," the dracanae at the front line said.

"They look tasty enough," Polybotes sneered, "but they'd probably taste like sea scum."

"We are the blood of Poseidon," Triton haughtily claimed. "We are not as low as you." The dracaenae stunned him, and he slumped on the cold floor, breathing hard.

"I like these thingsss," the dracaena hissed in delight.

"One more insult and you will die." Porphyrion's voice echoed on the dark walls. The Giant King focused on both Alabaster and Percy- nope, Earl-, eyes wild with glee. "Give this announcement to all. We'll start the celebrations for the Heart's Feast at exactly nine this morning. These ones will be our main entertainment until we reach the night events. Got it?"

They both nodded. Percy hoped that his guise would hold inside the room full of enemies. Fortunately, Clytius- the anti-Hecate- was not around, or else...

"And good luck to your champion, little General," the Giant said in an afterthought. "I'm counting that he won't fail you. Us Giants have placed bets, and I'm the only one supporting your..." His nose crinkled. "Little warrior."

"I won't fail, my Lord," Percy promised, smiling. "Not when I know that the Giant King has his faith on my twisted shoulders."

They both left the Giants and the entourage of new prisoners, and by the door stood a new set of guards. Two ghouls and two Lares.

"Morning," they greeted with slurred voices and half-lidded eyes. The boys greeted back, then headed for the outside world.

 


	18. Chapter 18

**SURE ENOUGH, AT NINE A.M.,** the coliseum was jam packed with monsters. They all wanted to see what lies in the future of Triton and his gang of mermen. Not that Percy didn't care one bit, but he figured his half-brother would do something as crazy as selling him short just so he could live. That was a problem. Or maybe he's just being paranoid because Triton seemed to harbor some grudge to him way back in the Second Titan War.

Aside from those who stayed in the dungeons for paying the price of their crazy actions, Percy didn't think he saw any monster at all outside. Well, except for his personal guards who now escorted him towards the dungeon. Maine and Marin (who was silent), to be exact.

"Have you chosen yesterday?" Maine the empousa asked. They were walking towards the lift, eager to see if some monster would cooperate with them. Her sharp, red nails slithered on Percy's left arm. Her curly hair smelled like lemons.

"I haven't," he said, fighting the temptation in his head. "There were too many of them, and most that I think would be fit for fighting were the ones who wanted to kill me as soon as they got out."

"I've told you, Earl," she purred against his ear. Percy had half a mind to push her away and stab her, but that would get him nowhere. "You could always choose from one of us."

"Would it be okay if I choose Alabaster himself?"

Maine took a moment to think, and as they rounded a dark corner, she shook her head. "He doesn't want to fight anymore, I'm afraid. He's already done with that phase. Besides, he's already minding on managing all of us. It would be unfair to put him in that position."

Percy stopped in his tracks, holding Maine by the arm. "Can you tell me more about him? Like, what had happened before I came here?"

She giggled, appreciating the gesture. Innocence flashed in her red eyes, but he didn't let himself get too comfortable. "Too many things happened here. I'm fairly sure that the Heart's Feast is already over when I'm halfway done with telling you his life."

"That long, huh. Just tell me what's important, I think." Percy hummed under his breath, pondering. "How about, uh, how had he gotten such a big clan? And how was he recognized by the Giants as an ally and not an enemy?"

Maine was nodding. "Interesting, that. Honestly, he'd worked his way up as a daimon, too. But when one of the contestants in the contest nearly cut his entire left hand, the guise disappeared. He was almost flayed alive from deceiving, but his mother, the Great Hecate came in to redeem him. The Giants stopped short at the sight of the Titaness, and had a change of heart. Hecate was allowed to heal his son, too.

"From the rule of the games, he started picking up those who had stayed loyal to Hecate in the dungeon. That includes me. We all fought for him because he gave us freedom, and we're determined to do whatever he says."

"But what if he's driving you to a cliff?" Percy ventured in a low tone. "Would you still go?"

We will. Percy." The Mist curled off, revealing Piper in the red dress of the empousa.

Percy couldn't believe what he just saw. He looked at Marin and saw Nico, his body flickering like a hologram before changing back to the haughty ghoul he'd shared dinners with.

He snapped his fingers, returning to his natural, sleep-deprived look, but with lesser paleness on his olive skin. He was grinning at Percy like they were old friends- which technically they were, but... Okay. That's complicated to explain. "Glad to be rid of this stuff for a while."

"He'd given us freedom as soon as he was hailed the little General by the Giants," Piper's voice jarred him back to his senses. "So why wouldn't we follow him until the end?"

"So you knew?" Percy asked, resisting the urge to scream hell for fear of being heard. "From the very beginning?"

"Not exactly," Nico said, looking away. Percy glared at him, trying to press him without saying a word. Nico didn't budge, but he was stifling a teasing smile.

Piper apologized with a sheepish smile. "We really had to do a fantastic job of acting."

"Which we did," Marin chimed in, nodding.

"The others?" Percy felt like the world had been swept right under his feet. He still needed a few seconds to recover. "And who are those people I saw-"

"Mistforms," she answered. "Looks real enough, right? The others are within the ranks, though we won't disclose the information yet."

"His orders," Marin echoed.

"But if they're Mistforms, how did they- just- just what the Hades-" Percy gave up with the words, slapping his forehead. He decided to press on a more important issue now that he knew that his friends were actually safe and sound even before he arrived. "I just hope you're not insane enough to stay with me. Alabaster must have told you."

"Yes, and no," they both said, as if they shared a single mind. "We're all going with you."

Percy choked. "What?"

"We know where Annabeth is," they said.

"I saw her earlier." Percy bit his lip. "The door goes one way, and nothing more. No windows, no ledges, not even a wall socket or a ventilation shaft!" He sighed, feeling like his world was about to fall because of Annabeth. "I have to go there through force-"

"No, you won't." Nico clicked his tongue. "You still think it's a 'go big, go home' thing?"

Percy felt incredulous at the turn of events. "Is it not?"

"We've made that chamber, you know." Piper absently curled her fingers around her hair. "It wasn't there, and it never did. Hecate and Alabaster and the first members of his army- us- made the chamber for them, a tribute of sorts to appease them. We've put up easy access so we could see and enter whenever we wanted. Unbeknownst to the Giants, of course."

"A-are you serious?" So I couldn't die, there's a large chance that I wouldn't have to die now...

"We won't be coming out if we weren't serious," Marin pointed out, his haughty tone back on show. They acted so well they deserve an award. "Let's go back. The horde would be suspicious if we stay a little longer."

In hindsight, Percy shouldn't have abandoned the thought of his death the way he had abandoned the dungeon. After all, a demigod could never be free from thinking that the next day might be their last, that the monster they're about to face would probably be the last they'd slay.

Ever.

Before the prized fighting tonight, the Giants insisted on a grand party spanning from the inner chambers up to the harbors of the poisoned Piraeus. Percy had seen hundreds of monsters work on arranging long tables that wound from the hilltop to the lowest point of the harbor. About twice that number helped in bringing in the food in large, metallic (and surprise, surprise: clean) wagons- human or not human, cooked and spiced, or a fresh and pale corpse.

The little General's horde had taken the second to the highest helping after the Giants, and they graciously accepted the (normal, mortal) food given to them. The smells were enough to make Percy's stomach melt- in a good way, of course.

"To the Giants!"

They were all about to say the praise back, albeit Percy had a bitter taste in his mouth, when someone arrived.

And that someone was Gaea.

 

 


	19. Chapter 19

**GAEA'S PRESENCE WAS SO UNCALLED** for. Percy could've settled with a peaceful sharing of meat and mead with the Giants in his daimon form for ages. No, serious.

The Earth Mother appeared the same from Percy's dream- wearing that somewhat loose Greek dress the color of sand, as tall and looked like a regular mom, her hair donned with glittering gems. She didn't strike for beauty, albeit that that came with it, but power. Dominance.

"Mother!" Porphyrion's grin spanned from one ear to the other. "I am glad you've come to grace our-"

"I certainly didn't come to have some mortal dinner, my children," she announced, eyeing the rest of the monsters.

"Then why?" Polybotes asked across the table. Sure, Alabaster's horde was a little far from them, but because the Giants are Giants and they have big mouths, they could hear everything.

"You all forgot something." Gaea smiled at her children- at least, that's what Percy figured. "You have a very honored guest sharing your table right at this moment."

Gasps resounded in the air, then the murmurs and whispers broke. Percy suddenly looked at Alabaster, but the latter's face remained calm. He took a glimpse of Piper and Nico, both who were feigning curiosity; like they had zero idea of what was about to happen.

Of course, Percy knew. Somewhat. His blood roared in his ears. And when he saw the Earth Mother walking at his direction, he knew his life was already sealed.

Too soon, Percy, the miser lilted at the back of his head. Too soon.

Gaea's brown eyes regarded him, slowly scanning Percy's form from head to toe. Percy didn't hold himself back from staring at her. Everyone else chattered, and some who were sitting far from the unraveling events shouted to know what was going on.

"Shut up!" Porphyrion shouted at them, and there were no noises to be heard.

"So." She held Percy by the chin, softly, turning his face from left to right. Percy felt like he was some apple in someone's hand, a few seconds away from being devoured. Too bad; tonight, it seemed highly likely to happen. "Great disguise you have here, sugar."

"Don't call me sugar, Gaea," he spat, attempting to swat her hand away. Gaea held his chin tighter, as if crushing the apple with her hands. Percy's hands fell to his side, numb. It took a large effort not to wince even for a second- Gaea's nails were digging deep gouges on his cheeks. The son of Poseidon felt the warmth of his blood run and fall.

She pulled his face up, and Percy had the notion of standing from his seat unless he wanted his head snapped with a single, bare hand. Her brown eyes looked darker than black, swirling with immense power. "I will call you with anything I want, Perseus Jackson."

Those gasps from earlier seemed like a whisper from the gasps that ensued. Everyone drew their weapons- except Alabaster and his army that now stood with him.

"We will keep our silence," Percy heard Alabaster say to them, a harsh whisper among the shouts and bellows.

"Want to keep your tongue, you runty traitor?" Polybetes laughed, and the rest of the countless monsters laughed with him. The hillside seemed to tremble. "Do you want me to pull them out for you?"

"Let them go," Percy croaked, trying to look at their direction. His eyes felt like they're about to pop out of the socket- Okay. Stop with the mental image right there. "They have nothing to do-"

"Of course they do!" The Giant tried to get close to Alabaster, but an invisible barrier spanned around him and the army. Polybotes tried hitting the shield with several weapons and his poison water, but the barrier held against him. "This is your sponsor, is he not?"

Soon, the other Giants stormed before Alabaster's barrier, hitting the surface with all their might. The half-blood was slowly going pale, but his barrier held against all their attacks.

"Try, and you will face my mother's wrath," Alabaster taunted, his face straight, those eyes with the color of Greek fire close to blaze.

"He's right, Polybotes," Gaea said, smiling as if everything was A-Okay. "No harm must be done on them, or else Hecate will turn against us."

The Giants looked dumbstruck. Polybotes looked like he was going to burst his head off, which was good but didn't happen. "But, Mother-"

"No sense giving my Father-" she glared at Percy- "-another complete and able-bodied ally."

"She's been our ally since the beginning," Percy shot at her, making his gaze dance with a sneer. "Lady Hecate was never yours."

Percy felt Gaea's hand tremble for a second, as if she was afraid.

"Shut. Up." Gaea threw him away like a rag, the whole left side of his body hitting the rock-strewn ground with such force he felt a few bones crack to kindling. His head rattled, feeling like his brain rocked in its place. His ears rang, his limbs all but numb, screaming for a cure. The Mist had curled off from his skin, revealing scratches and his camp shirt and jeans. His true face, his true body. The ring felt ice-cold against his skin, but he didn't complain. The ring felt like his only company, containing a pocket of the gods' and Chaos' power.

"It will be your salvation," the Primordial had told him. "But it will also be your destruction."

"I'm taking it with me," he had answered, loud and clear, and as bold as his voice could manage. "If something bad happens, I would..." He had hesitated at that moment. "I would be able to use it."

Chaos had given the ring, even going as far as inserting the object on his ring finger. "You have full responsibility now, Percy. You will be responsible for every action you take."

He could end everything right now. Just one word, a single call committed, and everything will fall.

Percy's conscience said no, his rational thoughts prattling about ending the world. And yet, he didn't.

Not until everyone he loved was safe; especially Annabeth.

Before Percy could try getting himself upright, the rocks formed beneath him and raised him from the ground.

"Everyone," Gaea raised her voice, "my children, keep your weapons at bay. I will not have a killing tonight, not until tomorrow."

"Wait!" Enceladus cut in. "You're cancelling the great fight we've all been waiting for so long?"

"I'm not. You may continue the festivities, but no killing. You will all kill them tomorrow in all ways you want, and only under my permission."

The Giant in question huffed, looking only the littlest bit content. "I could deal with that."

"All members of Alabaster's stronghold will undergo screening," the Earth Mother added, giving Percy a sideways glance. "We'll see if there are any more infiltrators aside from the great Percy Jackson."

Polybotes pointed at Alabaster. "And what about this little Janus-faced half-blood?"

Gaea looked at Percy, her motuh pulled into a smile. "He'll pass our judgment, once we get rid of him and Annabeth Chase." She looked back at the monsters gathering from the edges of the crest down to the bottom of the hill. Percy had a feeling that the skirmish had reached them, and they now knew.

That one daimon they cheered for a few seconds, it might've been the one who have killed them in cold blood at some point.

"Tomorrow," she announced, her voice loud and clear in the dim bloody skies. "I want all of you to be with us. Let us celebrate the complete rise of my husband to the Earth, Tartarus!"

The hillside roared in approval, chanting the Earth Mother's name.

What seemed like an hour passed after the skirmish, and Percy was now strapped to that rock. The Giants must have changed their plans, because not too soon, they brought out Annabeth. She was awake, her chlamys changed into a regular Greek dress with golden highlights. She looked like a goddess, and she struggled against Periboia although she was no match against the latter.

He struggled against his binds, but the most he could do was to shout her name.

At the sixth attempt, she finally heard his voice. From afar, she stared at Percy, her feet dragging over the ground. She started fighting from her captors, but Periboia seemed to have enough. The Giantess gave her back a mighty slap, and then her form fell to the ground like a flimsy straw doll.

The Giants might have as well killed him by then. "No!"

The Giants argued among themselves, then Periboia hauled Annabeth's limp form on her shoulders. They all walked downhill, passing a triumphant sneer at his way.

Percy had never felt so helpless, so small against the big world...

The monsters had already gone below to watch the head events- meaning, Mistform Nico and Mistform Reyna would be fighting Antaeus, or maybe the other top prisoners (all Mistorms, Percy reassured himself) would undergo that 'battle-to-the-death' with the Giants. Either way, it wasn't good.

Everything had looked okay already, his friends had been safe for so long, and they had figured a new way to save Annabeth, whatever the cost. And now, things have been ruined from Gaea's intervention. All their plans have been thrown in the fire, the Giants stomping on the ashes.

Percy banged his head weakly against the rock. _Stupid. Stupid. Stupid._

And Percy knew deep in his heart, that at daylight, there were more worst things about to come.

 


	20. Chapter 20

**ONCE THE SUN PEEKED A** T the horizon, Percy whispered a birthday greeting to himself. He wondered if the gods did the same thing back at Olympus, or if there would still be a home for him when this was all over.

But the one thing he noticed aside from his birthday was that he had zero guards at all.

Percy was right by the Parthenon- his left side facing the temple- and no one had yet dared to get close to him or his rock. Either they were afraid of him, or from being accused of helping although they did nothing but stare. He imagined himself by the columns, assuming guard duty just like last night, and thought that he wouldn't be so easy to see from there. He probably looked like a hastily drawn stick figure from that distance.

It was so easy to escape- the guards on the temple weren't even looking at him. The problem was the rocks. Gaea had attached rocks to strap him down, and his arms and legs wouldn't even move underneath. Percy felt like his arms and legs were cut, but everytime he looked, it was still there. The thought that he might not be able to move them again if he did create a way to escape terrified him.

So he decided to make use of Chaos' pocketed power. It seemed like the ripest time to commit the ring into action. Or put in simpler verse, it was his only choice.

But before Percy could use the tiniest percent of its power, he had to concentrate. A swarm of bees flew by, and Percy felt like his mind was drowning again...

They had reached the bottom of the Erechtheion, the temple of Poseidon and Athena. Annabeth said they were near to the Parthenon, and that was where the Giants had gathered to wake up Gaea with the use of his and Annabeth's blood. Percy himself suggested on splitting up. Piper had disagreed, pointing out that splitting up even more was another bad idea.

He wished he had listened. He couldn't take the decision back.

He walked along the middle of the perimeter, careful in his steps even if his form was a six-armed Earthborn. He left piles of monster dust in his wake, and he let the wind whisk the remains away. He felt a static go through his body, a cold feeling on his back. It was as if passing a curtain leading to the insides of a frozen foods warehouse...

Then Enceladus was right before him, sneering. He saw through the Mist that veiled Percy's face- Percy knew he did.

His mind snapped back to the present. The swarm of bees flew away from him, heading to the coliseum below.

Who...? Percy had a nagging suspicion in his mind, and he immediately thought of Piper and Nico and wherever his other friends were. He remembered Frank, who had been Hazel's eyes before she transformed them into Earthborns. He'd taken a form of bees, too. Was it coincidence? Fate?

And that screening, Percy didn't like the sound of that. How would his friends pass that screening? Would Hecate still protect them, telling that no one but Percy infiltrated their turf? What if Gaea and the Giants would use Alabaster again to blackmail her?

No. Percy wouldn't let those villains get to that part. Especially not to the part where he and Annabeth will die so Tartarus could rise.

He had to hurry.

In his ring finger, the coldness of the ring gave way to warmth. The new objective in his mind gave him enough willpower to concentrate. Percy managed to rub one of the runes inscribed on the ring with his thumb; he just didn't know what rune was that. But at least he didn't touch the starburst. The starburst was the trigger for his ultimate move, and it was not yet the time.

The heat faded from the ring, but his stomach felt queasy. He started to double over, his breath stank with the strong scent of wine.

Dionysus. Wine, and madness. Percy almost shouted with joy, but then he remembered he had to get someone's attention. He let himself succumb to the madness crawling near his frayed nerves.

Percy started chuckling to himself first, his eyes closed, then the laugh had a more natural feel as his voice rose to the skies. Good memories came, the dam jokes, all the fun he and his friends had on their quests... Percy felt warmer, more alive. Perhaps it was the wine that made him warmer from the inside. His eyes started to glaze. Everywhere he looked at, things glowed.

Out of the corner of his half-lidded eyes, he saw the guards by the Parthenon exchanging glances, pointing among themselves.

Come on, he thought, still laughing like a deranged mental patient. Check out this mentally unstable Percy. Go tell your friends. Get the Giants in the mix, too.

Sure enough, the guards split up. Three went to him, and a party of five ran downhill. Percy laughed some more, waiting. His throat felt sore, his lungs short of oxygen. The back of his mind flitted to the thoughts of the god himself- the way he grew up, the way he had to stomach pretending when he was outside to make the gods think that he was not the one they're finding, the day Hera found out, the day Hera had driven his foster parents to madness, the death of his friend...

Percy felt like he was there, behind the scenes, watching but couldn't do anything to stop what had happened. Dionysus must've felt the same, at least before he had invented wine and discovered that he was truly a god.

The guards came up- three dracaenae, slithering, still confused as to why Percy was suddenly bawling his eyes out. Percy struggled not to claw at his own face or eat his fingers out of frustration. Percy felt the intensity of their gazes. "What are you doing-"

Percy stared at the three of them. The dracaenae suddenly rolled on the floor, crying like Gaea had just died.

"Can someone cut the rocks?" Percy said between sobs, now keeping his eyes close again.

"You can't cut rockssss!" one of them cried, the tears gushing out like small stream.

"No, idiotssss!" another said. Percy peek through his half-lidded eyes, glimpsed one of them slithering towards him with a curved sword in hand. She was crying, too. "You can cut them like thisss!"

The dracaena brought down the sword on Percy's sides, and the rocks grappling him in place crumbled. Once free, Percy body slammed the nearest dracaena and took her sword. She only cried, even threw a tantrum, but didn't attempt to get up and grab back her sword. She was too busy arguing and crying with her sisters (probably).

Percy kept staring at their green eyes. The trick won't last long, he knew.

And with that, Percy ran downhill. Each step was hard even if gravity gave him help, but the surge of adrenaline numbed the screaming pain in his legs. The warmth in his fingers waned, but his breath still smelled of wine.

_One rune down, twelve more to use. And there's one more to end the trickery once and for all._

Once he stood at the base of the hill, the monsters milling around gasped, hauled their weapons, and charged. Percy hadn't sucked fresh air yet when one of them had connected a mace on his curved sword. He backed away, jumping lightly on the balls of his feet.

_Move it._

He readied his sword before the sauntering, towering beasts, whispering, "Ares. Hades."

The ring glowed in vivid, bloody red mixed with a ghastly shade of purple, and Percy thought that the lights were the only beautiful thing he'd seen this morning. He felt a surge of courage and invincibility in his veins, a sheen glow of red encasing him- Ares' sphere of power, his blessing.

He launched himself towards them, slicing and stabbing through their ranks. The monsters came at him in groups, too many of them bringing an assortment of swords over his head. Percy pushed them all back, slicing again, stabbing, kicking the Hades out of them.

The air turned darker, and so did the earth- a suffocating black. The monsters started to retreat in a wide circle where Percy stood in the middle, looking everywhere like cornered rats in a laboratory. Before they could take more steps back, Percy thrust his right hand forward.

"Swallow them!" Long, elastic arms shot from the uneven ground, and more came from the hillside and the ruins all around him. The hands grew in a second, grabbing monsters in tenfolds. The shadows left no traces of their existence except for trails of blood and gold dust.

The surrounding crumbling columns and walls echoed agonizing screams. Every sound passed his ears. Percy raised more dark sentients so he could eliminate more monsters plus the reinforcements coming from the arena. A full minute passed before the darkness receded, revealing the new color of nearly ninety-seven percent of the land before him. Blood.

Percy doubled over again, his mouth spewing blood. Wiping his weakened state and vivid red blood with the back of his hand, he trudged towards the arena, his green eyes bright with carnage. Ares' blessing was gone, making him feel even more depleted of energy.

Only the monsters guarding the coliseum's grand entrance were left. They visibly shook with fear, their eyes pleading mercy from afar. Percy took his time walking, clearing the jumbled morass of his mind. The ring was comfortably cold on his finger, spreading the chills to his arms. Percy resisted the urge to curl down and sleep.

"You all know where to go," he rasped at them when he got close, "and you know what to do."

They nodded in a haste, opening the door leading to the coliseum. The blast of a thousand stones breaking startled Percy, then he saw the coliseum's ceiling crumble around a huge platform. The Giants formed a semicircle, just like before. The monsters were as noisy as ever, oblivious to what had happened outside. Or were they, really?

As soon as the monsters opened the doors, they scurried away, screaming.

Percy's eyes dimmed at the edges, but he wasn't about to faint. He was completely conscious, in fact. Without turning back, he called, "Artemis."

Arrows rained on the screaming monsters, jagged black, all sharpened obsidian. The arrows hit home, fourteen two-feet long arrows stuck on each body. They fell without a sound, their blood spilled in thick streams on the ground.

Four runes out of order now, he thought. There's seven more for him, and the starburst. He intended to use everything while saving Annabeth and his friends.

_"Ah, the sacrificial one as always?" Chaos had once asked him._

He remembered not answering that one.

"Guilty as charged," he whispered in the air.

He entered the coliseum, his sea-green eyes cold with murder.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**AT FIRST, THEY DIDN'T NOTICE** Percy. He was cool about it; he really didn't want to be noticed until he took a stock of the perimeter.

With the ceiling gone, Percy saw the blood red skies highlighted with orange-hued clouds. A twenty-feet fire graced the back side of the platform, a swirling pillar vortex. There were four more pillars- two black ones, a dark blue one dappled with red, a milky white pillar. Percy had a hunch it might be the Rivers encircling the Underworld: Acheron, Cocytus, Styx, Lethe, Phlegethon.

Back in his trip to Tartarus, all the rivers crossed his heart before going back to the mortal world. It made a complete but freaky sense that the rivers were his blood.

The Giants were too busy with their villainous, incomprehensible version of Kumbaya, chanting in front of a circular stone platform. Annabeth was on top of the platform, tied to a wooden pole, bloody on a few places. His fist clenched in impulse.

Another wooden pole was beside her, empty. It was for him, perhaps.

"Percy?" several people called from somewhere- Reyna, Hazel, Frank. He heard collective gasps everywhere- from monsters to his friends on the platform. It took him a moment to see where they were- just below Annabeth's position, tied with black chains that glittered from afar. The Giants' formation blocked them from his view. "Percy's here-"

The Giants turned except for Porphyrion, appalled by what they were seeing at the entrance. Maybe they weren't expecting him standing there at the moment. But Percy had more pressing thoughts. What if coming here was a trick? The whole quest had been filled with him not seeing the truth. He felt as mad as the king who Dionysus had turned insane and killed his son.

And the hurt after that... Percy was a hundred-percent sure that the pain in the end would kill him faster than his plan.

"So what if he's here?" The Giant King shot at the chained demigods, still not turning to face him. He seemed to forget Percy for a while, whirling some B-Class insult at his friends before saying, "Let's continue the rites."

Your mistake, Percy thought with a smile. He rubbed a rune at random behind his back. Don't activate just yet, he told the ring with a shaky, internal voice.

Aphrodite, Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, Hermes, Hephaestus, Apollo. Which Olympian power will he have next for a short time?

"Face me," Percy challenged. "Or are you afraid of being outshone by a half-blood?"

The monsters drew in their breaths, but not a single one of them moved. Percy walked further in, ignoring the hungry stares of a thousand eyes.

The Giants were looking at Porphyrion, then he groaned at them.

"I suppose you must be given some credit." Porphyrion jumped off the stone platform. Percy locked eyes with him. The rest of the Giants followed his wake, readying their fists for a fight. "The hero had cut his way through-"

The smell of death attacked them, sudden. Even Percy gagged, wishing for more oxygen. He didn't know where that came from but it was some sort of godsend just about now.

Porphyrion cursed, loud and irritated, crinkling his nose. "CHECK THE OUTSIDE!" he shouted to the nearest horde of monsters. Not wishing to anger the Giant even more, they jumped off the bleachers and scampered with their noses pinched. The rest of the Giants tried to get close to him, but someone held them back.

Warmth thawed the chills in his arms, so sudden Percy yelped. Percy's gaze landed back on the pillar of Phlegethon, and he widened his eyes. The fire erupted, dousing every single monster and Giant within the coliseum. He heard his friends scream among the anguished cries. If they were his true friends they wouldn't burn- he had given that command.

The Phlegethon might heal, but it could be more destructive than regular fire. Percy intended to burn every single one of them.

To his luck, Clytius was there. Unscathed. His brothers clawed the fire out of their bodies. It would take a few more fires to put them at Death's doorstep, seems like. When Gaea appeared at his face, her hair was swept sideways and the earthen hue of her eyes swirled to black again.

He had six god runes left, and a total of sixty seconds. He must have used so much time with Ares' and Hades'.... Percy couldn't feel his fingers, and he didn't dare look at his hands in fear of what he would see. The coliseum quieted as soon as Percy pulled back the flames. Ashes flew in the air like dirty snow; if snow could be hot, that is.

The pillars disappeared, and so were all of his friends. Including Annabeth.

"Fakes," he muttered, gritting his teeth.

"Well done wiping out the rest of the monsters," Gaea shouted at his face, her voice reverberating on the ground. She was clapping, smiling. "But you're helpless, Percy. Your friends are not here. The gods will never come." Her face hardened. "You are alone."

His head felt as light as a helium balloon, like the time he had been injured in that hellish forest in Tartarus.

One cut of the string and he's dead.

The Giants stormed at him as one, but forgot to block the way he'd come. He ran outside, ignoring the bone-deep chills on all his four limbs. He made it past the entrance, bursting into the growing daylight. The streets were empty of foot traffic- Perfect. As long as he could walk and run-

-he stumbled face first in the dirt. Cold hit his face, stinging and hot like dry ice, and in a split second he realized his right arm was the source of the out-of-place chill. Both his arms were ice blue, coated in half an inch of ice. His legs were surely the same, and they felt as heavy as a sack of bricks aside from being too cold it burned.

The ring was taking its toll on him. "Apollo. Heal." He choked. "Faster, please."

In an instant, the ice melted away in mist. He stood, saw a glimmer of gold around him, and ran as fast as his legs allowed him. The Giants were already behind him, screaming bloody murder; the shaking earth couldn't have fooled him.

Where were they? Annabeth? Where was Alabaster?

He took a glance back, and that nearly cut his head in half. The shimmering gold faded around him. The Giants weren't moving to chase him- they were laughing among themselves. He rounded a corner, and the earth shook in tow. Percy backed sideways, almost stumbling as he avoided the rotating axe thrown at him. The Giants threw out weapons with scary-good accuracy from the intersection he'd just passed.

What was left of the ring were Hera's, Zeus', Poseidon's, Hermes', Athena's, and Aphrodite's runes. Chaos' starburst... well Percy's reserving that for the worst possible scenario that seemed most likely to happen at his very birthday.

Someone suddenly grabbed him to a concession stand. He was running for his life at one moment, then his body moved sharply to the right, a dark tentacle grabbing and wrapping around him out of nowhere, nearly launching him into the air. His body almost crashed to an empty wooden stall, but the tentacle must've been made of something special because he passed right through the wood and the nondescript wall behind the stall.

Inside, he crashed to the wall opposite of what Percy had passed through. Apollo's healing essence waned at that moment, so he had zero comfort at all. The room was dark- there were no windows, not even the slightest hint of a door's hinge. His ice-coated arms and legs had cracked from the impact, lines snaking at the sides of his arms. His body tingled and shivered from the chills.

His mind tried not to think of how cold everything felt. Percy failed at that, miserable as hell.

You're helpless, Percy.

He spat out blood. Someone had just helped me, you old hag.

Your friends are not here.

They are, he retorted in the dark. They might notbe with me but they're always in my heart.

The gods will never come.

They might not have come for me, but they're with me. Their essences helped me go this far. Their faith in me helped me strive for the future.

You are alone.

In the darkness of that strange, foreign room, Percy felt how true her words were.

Percy stayed there for a long time. Or maybe it was just a few minutes. He couldn't tell which.

"You believe her?" a muffled voice spoke, unbidden. Soft steps came close, and Percy wished he could see him in the dark.

Someone lit up a match, then he lit the candle. In the flames, Percy had half a mind to say that Nico's surname fit his face. He looked like an angel, if he disregarded the eyebags. His eyes widened when he saw the thick ice around Percy's limbs. Taking deep breaths, Nico set the candle on the floor and sat next to him.

"Don't worry," he said, almost choking again. "It'll get better."

He frowned, stubborn. "I'm not buying that."

"I thought you..." Percy's eyes were closing. "You didn't..."

"Care?" Nico rolled his eyes. Was his face actually red...? "Okay. Right now, I don't love you the way I did before but that doesn't mean- Percy? Percy!" Nico was shaking his shoulders, but he didn't see anything. He barely felt Nico touch him. "Percy, don't close your eyes! Percy!"

"The dragons from China could've heard you," he rasped, his laugh more of a grimace.

"Are we late?" With his half-lidded eyes, Percy barely saw Leo passing the wall, smiling. The rest of the Seven, Reyna, and Alabaster passed the wall after him, the looks on their faces replaced with fear.

Annabeth wasn't with them.

Percy's eyes closed, but not before he heard them screaming his name....

 


	22. Chapter 22

**"YOU'RE HERE," LORD CHAOS GREETED** in his eerie voice. He still had the all-white concept about him, and Percy wondered how long would it take him to change back to his all-black clothes.

He was back at the realm of Chaos, at the middle of nowhere but below. Percy had no idea how he got there, but he remembered losing his consciousness by the time his friends had arrived in that strange room...

And his arms and legs were okay. He wasn't feeling cold anymore.

"I don't know," he said. His throat wanted to cry for water.

"You are nearer to your goals," Lord Chaos assured. "And Annabeth is waiting."

"Annabeth," her name entranced Percy, as if he was back in his first day at camp, the first time he'd seen her. "My friends... Dad... Mom..." His chest tightened, and the tears... Oh, gods. He hung his head, not wanting to say the words rolling in his mind.

I'm going to die.

There was silence between them, stretching for miles with no end. Percy could only cry and scream his heart out, grieving what he never had, cherishing what he did. He kept on wishing that he could be with everyone he loved for the last time. But he couldn't. He couldn't ask that much to the gods, much less to those thread-spinning crones: the Fates. What he did was never enough for them, so who was he to ask for something like a last goodbye?

"After this," Chaos said, breaking the unbearable silence punctuated by Percy's cries, "the gods, I will make sure that they'll heed to their promises and remember you-"

Percy mumbled something, his breath hot on his lips.

"What, again?" Chaos requested, surprisingly soft.

"I SAID I DIDN'T WANT THAT!" Percy's eyes felt hot, his cold tears stinging it dry. "I didn't choose being a half-blood. I didn't choose to suffer. I didn't want anyone to suffer because of me. I did everything for them, I nearly died who knows how many times and yet- and look what's happening!"

One look at Chaos and Percy realized what he just did. No, no, no. He took steps back, backing away from the Primordial he'd shouted at. Chaos was inching closer, his face blank of emotions.

"S-sorry," he stuttered, hiding his face in his arms. When he stumbled, he crawled backwards, his arms trembling. "I'm sorry, Lord Chaos. I didn't- it wasn't-"

Chaos knelt before him and held both his hands. After helping Percy stand on his shaky feet, the Primordial gave him a hug. They stayed like that for a long time.

"No one can choose their fate," he said to Percy. His breath touched Percy's hair, and a tingling sensation wrapped him. He felt... safe.

His voice changed, turning into Annabeth's. "Mortals can't choose how their lives will end."

"Even the gods, Percy," he whispered in his mom's voice, "they do not control their own fate."

"If we all can," he said in Poseidon's voice, "we're already done for."

"But," his voice turned into Annabeth's again, but now, he did look like Annabeth- the deep, gray eyes, curly blonde hair, her serene smile, the camp necklace glittering over her camp shirt. "We could all choose what would become of us."

He was stunned. Looking around, Percy saw his friends, the gods, his family. They were all smiling at him, then they all came in for the largest group hug he'd ever have in his life. Sally kept wiping the tears of his son, but Percy couldn't stop himself from crying.

"You may not have chosen being a half-blood," Chaos said, the image of everyone else fading. "But everything you did, it was all the result of your choices. You accepted being a half-blood when you could've run away and forget. You could've saved yourself when you had to choose between the sea or the maintenance tunnel." He smiled, and for a moment, his eyes were like a human's- a dark, mysterious blue.Â "You were given two chances to run away, yet you didn't."

"You never ran away," he continued. "You knew the odds, you knew you could die anyway, but you didn't turn around and go back the way you'd come. You could've let the world end unnoticed- the Misted world provided you comfort and you were happy, but you didn't go back there. You never backed down, Percy; you only moved forward.

"Gaea offers no future; you do." Chaos smiled like a proud father. "And because of that, you are more powerful than she is. More than you could ever know."

"I... am?"

Chaos nodded. "Just so you know, the original holder of fate and destiny frowns upon those who have doubts about their own fate and destiny."

What... "Original?"

"She's Lady Ananke, wife of Chronos." He fidgeted a bit. "The Time Primordial, mind you." He coughed in his fist. "Like I said, she frowns upon those who think that all they did were for naught. Don't make her feel sad; she likes you because of what you chose to do within those years of being a half-blood and even before that time.

"Make her proud," Chaos said. He started to fade, and Percy felt himself fade, too. "We all believe in what you can do. And don't think that you're alone, that I wouldn't reward you in the end."

"Reward me with what?"

He smiled once more. "Wait and see."

Percy's eyes shot open.

"He's awake," Hazel said in a hushed tone.

Silence filled them for three seconds, then the half-bloods around him released long, heavy sighs. They were all bloodied and bruised, various parts of their bodies wrapped in bloodstained gauze. Nico had an eyepatch on his left eye, and a dried stream of blood graced his left cheek.

"Thank the gods," Reyna said, sitting in a corner with her wrapped hands clasped in a prayer.

Percy tried to sit up, but a shock of cold hit his limbs. The ice on his arms and legs were still there, but now... It felt strange, like the ice had always been a part of his body. He was fighting the element he grew up with, but what could he do? The cold was too much for him.

But now his body had accepted the pain. Maybe his nerves had frozen itself while he was sleeping as well.

"The ice wouldn't melt," Leo grumbled, his hand lit up in swirling flames. In the orange light, he saw the others sitting against the wall, their faces cleared of agony, but still taut with tension. "We've tried everything while you were, uh, sleeping."

"Good for me if it melts." Percy tried to sit up using his icy arms. His arms and legs complained, cracking like thin wooden splinters, but he managed. "Too bad it wouldn't. And it would only get worst."

"Worst?" Hazel's voice was little Percy barely heard her.

Percy shook his head. "Believe me, you wouldn't want to know what happens."

The other half-bloods exchanged wary glances. The looks on their faces made Percy think that they had an idea of what was going to happen to him.

So he changed the subject. "How did you get here? Where are we? What happened in the screening? How long was I-"

"Slow down, Percy." Leo had a slight grin on his face. "We can't answer all that."

"Where's Annabeth? And how long was I out?"

"An hour or so," Alabaster answered. "Annabeth is still with Gaea. They never left the Parthenon. What you saw was an illusion."

Percy frowned. "You- what?"

He pointed at Frank, who had one of his arms around Hazel's shoulders. "He was watching you when you were up there."

"But how did you know?" His gaze flitted from one half-blood to the next.

"You were screaming Annabeth's name even though she wasn't there," Frank answered.

"You were watching even below the hill." Frank nodded. "If not, you wouldn't have saved me."

They were silent for a while.

"Anyway, we all passed the screening," Alabaster answered. "My mother didn't take their Mist disguises off, only saying that only Percy must've gotten in after fooling me. They bought the excuse. However, when the Mistforms fought the Giants and Antaeus, every hit that those Mistforms take, they wo As to where we are... we're in a fragment of Chaos' stronghold."

"Fragment?"

"It looks like a small room, that's why it is a fragment."

"You needed all the help you could get," Nico said, his voice faint from across the room. "That's why we took you."

Percy stood up. Better said than done- his legs wouldn't support him. After a few more attempts, he stood up on his frozen feet. It was a surprise he wasn't slipping just yet. He looked at them. "Annabeth needs help more than I do. You could've gone there-"

"We couldn't do anything, Percy." Alabaster's eyes shone in alarm. "Hecate had to help them protect the chambers from us, and only you could enter. Besides, it's dangerous if you go there alone. The Giants are with her and there are no gods to help us in killing them!"

"We could get there, right?"

"Alabaster had said it," Nico said, sighing. "We couldn't enter the chambers-"

"But we could all storm to the Parthenon, right?" He cut in. "I didn't say you have to go in the chambers with me. You said it: only me could enter the place where Annabeth was."

They all rose, telling him to stop what he was thinking, that he probably wasn't thinking of what he was saying. Percy didn't listen.

"Get me out of here," he pleaded, walking towards the wall. They parted to give him space. "If you don't want to go with me, I'll go by myself."

"No way!" They shouted.

Someone placed a hand on Percy's shoulder. "Are you sure, Percy?"

"Never had been this sure, Alabaster," he answered. "I'm going to save Annabeth. If I don't come back..." He took a deep breath. "Find Annabeth for me, make sure she is safe. And tell her I love her."

Percy faced them, taking time to remember their faces. The faces of his friends, a part of his growing family. Hazel was crying, and Frank, Nico, and Reyna trying to comfort her. "You'll all be safe in here, right?"

"They would," Alabaster answered.

Percy nodded. "Good to know. Then don't get out here until night falls. Promise me, now."

He'd started the quest flying through the snow, and now, Percy was ending it with a third of his body turned into ice.

They said their promises, binding it to the River Styx. Percy faced the wall, then took his first step to the shadows.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, everyone! HIDE EVERYTHING!

**HE PASSED THROUGH THE WALL** not knowing where exactly he would land. It was different from the time he and Nico had shadow-traveled with Mrs. O'Leary, where the shadows whisper too many things though they didn't even had a mouth. The silence was deafening- maddening, even.

Percy had sealed his fate when he emerged at a wide room lit up with braziers, the walls indifferent, letting in no light, the multiple levels of stone thrones opposite of him giving off a chill that seemed colder than death itself.

The Giants appeared in a blink of an eye, sitting on their respective tone thrones, their faces domineering and cruel.

Gaea appeared with Annabeth in her clutches, emerging from the ground. Even from afar, Percy could see Annabeth's arms shining in the red of her blood. The floor where they stood was a pool of red, and Gaea's dress seemed to absorb the liquid around her feet.

Percy's blood ran colder than the ice around his limbs. Annabeth was too pale; so much of her blood looked lost, he couldn't tell if she was still alive.

"What did you do to her," he said, eyes transfixed on the blonde girl in the Earth Mother's hands. "What did you do to her?" He demanded, shouting.

The Giants snickered behind the goddess. Gaea pushed Annabeth to the ground, and her body made a sickening thud. Percy felt his heart breaking. "Why, we sacrificed her."

His eyes filled with tears he couldn't see straight. Gaea threw Annabeth at him as though she was just some duffel bag. Percy barely caught her in his arms, her skin soft and milky pale.

But she was cold.

Gaea didn't waste time. "Giants, go!"

The Giants scrambled to kill him while he felt devastated, and he dodged at their distinct assaults. The surge of adrenaline numbed everything- even the physical and emotion pain. Still, Enceladus had nearly hacked his sword arm off if he hadn't launched himself in a back flip, while Thoon had nearly hit his head with his XXXL obsidian club. Percy couldn't manage to hold his breath out for long- the Giants weren't giving him enough space and they don't exactly smell like fresh things. Percy knew he was going to die from their combined attacks, the toll of using the ring, and Tartarus would rise because his and Annabeth's blood had been spilled.

"Hermes!" He shouted, shrill. His ears rang, blood pounding mad on his head. "Poseidon!"

Inhuman speed was at Percy's disposal. Polybotes' hands that reeked of poison landed on Periboia's back when she was about to hit Percy with a longsword, and the latter went down with her skin steaming in gold.

Gaea only stood to the side, letting her children take the spotlight. Enraged, he worked on the trick he'd learned from Akhlys.

He glared at the remaining Giants, willing the liquids inside their body to stop and go at only one direction- only up, out of their mouths, noses, and ears. They all gagged, choking on their golden blood spilling over the ground like a waterfall.

And to end it all before the mark...

There was only one thing in his mind.

"Chaos," he whispered.

The ring on his finger broke the ice, and darkness escaped. Winds tore through the chamber, bursting out countless spikes tearing through the bodies of Gaea and her children. He heard Gaea scream.

Percy didn't feel anything.

The deluge spread outward, and the chamber burst into pieces.

Percy walked forward, the dark winds spreading to the world. Chaos could create, and he could also destroy. It was the last resort: destroy the world Gaea had created from Hecate's power, and recreate the world he knew.

But he wouldn't be there. Not anymore. That was the condition.

His mind was blank, and all he wanted to do was to hold Annabeth one last time.

Six.

He knelt next to her.

Five.

He held her in his arms, his eyes dried of any tears.

Four.

"I love you," he whispered. "Wise Girl."

Three.

Percy kissed her, long, his heart aching. He didn't want to part with her, but it was the only way.

Two.

Your destruction will save us all.

One.

"Goodbye," he whispered in her ears.

The ring broke around his fingers, and then the darkness closed in, returning from where it all began. The shadows swallowed him whole.

The world he'd struggled for so long to protect the safety of his loved ones came back.

But unlike before, Perseus Jackson would no longer be there. He was gone.


End file.
